On the 13th October 2020, Hackney Council suffered what could be a serious cyberattack that has reportedly affected systems and services for residents.
Data breaches such as this one can be extremely serious for any victims involved, and it could leave them vulnerable to cyber scams. If it is the case that personal and private information has been exposed, victims need to be wary and they need to know that they could be eligible to claim compensation.
Without knowing the exact information involved in the breach, we do not yet know the severity of the attack. We have represented claimants for similar breaches as a leading firm of data breach lawyers. We represent thousands of clients having launched over 45 group and multi-party data actions, including infamous ones such as the 2018 BA data breach event and the big 2017 Equifax cyberattack.
About the cyberattack
Hackney Council has reported that the serious cyberattack that affected their systems occurred on the 13th October 2020. Over 48 hours later, the resident’s services were still understood to be offline. A week later, Hackney Council was still working to restore the services that had been ‘significantly disrupted’ as a result of the incident.
The council has yet to reveal substantial details about the nature of the cyberattack that has taken place, but what we need to understand is more about exactly what information may have been affected. Advice to residents at this time is to be wary of any phishing emails, cold calls or suspicious activity.
Whilst the nature – if any – of what data has been breached is still unknown, it is possible that this information could be available and that cybercriminals may be taking advantage of the confusion to target residents.
As such, people need to be very wary.
Hackney Council in ‘early stages’ of investigation
Hackney Council is reportedly still in the ‘early stages’ of their investigation.
An update from the Hackney Council website confirms:
‘We are learning more about the attack but are choosing not to share any more information at this stage in order to make sure we do not inadvertently assist the attackers. We are committed to sharing further information about this as soon as we can, including what, if any, actions residents may need to take.’
It is understood that Hackney Council has reported the incident to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), and investigations are understood to be taking place alongside the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Residents have been advised by the council to wait for further instruction from them as opposed to making contact themselves. They have said:
‘The attack is continuing to have a significant impact on council services, and we ask residents to not contact us unless absolutely necessary.’
Could victims be eligible to claim compensation?
If you are a resident of Hackney Council and have been targeted by any phishing email scams, cold callers or cyber criminals, it could be related to the incident. If Hackney Council informs you that your data has been breached as part of the cyberattack, you could be eligible to claim compensation with us now on a No Win, No Fee basis.
To get in contact with our specialist team of data breach lawyers, please see the options available here.