[UK] Capita admits hackers may have accessed data

Outsourcing specialist and government contractor Capita has revealed that customer, supplier or colleague data could have been accessed during a cyber attack last month, Sky News reports.

Capita announced earlier in April that it had been targeted and said its investigations had identified that the attack on its systems first took place on or around March 22.

It said the unauthorised access was not interrupted until March 31.

The company reportedly believed the hackers had primarily impacted access to internal Microsoft Office 365 applications, admitting there was evidence of a "limited" data breach.

"Capita continues to work through its forensic investigations and will inform any customers, suppliers or colleagues that are impacted in a timely manner," its statement said.

Companies using Capita for call centre services, such as O2, are understood to have been affected. A number of council customer service lines were reportedly impacted too.

Capita said the majority of its client services were unaffected, with 4 per cent of its server estate hit.

It confirmed that staff access to Microsoft Office 365 had been restored.

The attack took place at a time when cybercrimes are on the rise and companies are being warned to remain vigilant.

On April 19, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reportedly said that the number of "hackers for hire" and the prevalence of spyware was set to grow over the next five years, leading to further cyber attacks and increasingly unpredictable threats.

In addition, the UK government confirmed that the NCSC was issuing an "official threat notice" to operators of critical national infrastructure amid concerns about the growing cyber threat, particularly from Russia.

A spate of recent cyberattacks has affected organisations including WH Smith and Royal Mail's international parcel services.

Source: Sky News

(Links via original reporting)

Outsourcing specialist and government contractor Capita has revealed that customer, supplier or colleague data could have been accessed during a cyber attack last month, Sky News reports.

Capita announced earlier in April that it had been targeted and said its investigations had identified that the attack on its systems first took place on or around March 22.

It said the unauthorised access was not interrupted until March 31.

The company reportedly believed the hackers had primarily impacted access to internal Microsoft Office 365 applications, admitting there was evidence of a "limited" data breach.

"Capita continues to work through its forensic investigations and will inform any customers, suppliers or colleagues that are impacted in a timely manner," its statement said.

Companies using Capita for call centre services, such as O2, are understood to have been affected. A number of council customer service lines were reportedly impacted too.

Capita said the majority of its client services were unaffected, with 4 per cent of its server estate hit.

It confirmed that staff access to Microsoft Office 365 had been restored.

The attack took place at a time when cybercrimes are on the rise and companies are being warned to remain vigilant.

On April 19, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reportedly said that the number of "hackers for hire" and the prevalence of spyware was set to grow over the next five years, leading to further cyber attacks and increasingly unpredictable threats.

In addition, the UK government confirmed that the NCSC was issuing an "official threat notice" to operators of critical national infrastructure amid concerns about the growing cyber threat, particularly from Russia.

A spate of recent cyberattacks has affected organisations including WH Smith and Royal Mail's international parcel services.

Source: Sky News

(Links via original reporting)