At the end of May, 8 of the biggest organisations in the UK were hit with a cyber-attack exposing thousands of employees’ bank and personal data through their payroll system. So far only 3 of the companies have been named in the data breach: British Airways, Boots, and the BBC, with no official confirmation on who was behind the attack.
CyberWhite’s own David Horn spoke on the topic with LBC News, covering the key facts of the breach and offering a specialist perspective as a cyber security expert. For any organisations using the affected payroll provider, Zellis, a patch has been released which should ensure the protection of your data going forward.
Listen to what David had to say on the data breach below.
What can be learnt from this data breach?
This was a serious incident that left many employees at risk of fraud and phishing attacks. Unfortunately, cyber-attacks and attempts aren’t going away and are actually becoming more difficult to spot. This means organisations need to be prepared and ready for any potential attack with the best possible cyber security in place. As David says in the interview “cyber criminal enterprises only need to get lucky once, but we need to be lucky all the time”.
What should you do if you think your data has been breached?
If you’re an employee of one of the affected companies and you think your data has been breached, the most important thing you can do is be vigilant. Look out for any “official messages” that ask for your password or emails pushing you to take immediate action.
Check for any unusual activity in your accounts or transactions that aren’t yours and contact your bank immediately. Also, if you have other accounts using the same password as the one used for the breached companies, be sure to change them. You can’t be too careful when it comes to protecting your personal data online.
There are 5 more companies that were involved in this breach that are yet to be identified so check back with us for updates. It’ll be interesting to see what the outcome will be from this breach and the impact it will have in the world of cyber security.
How can CyberWhite help?
For help with your business’ cyber security processes contact CyberWhite today. Our team of cyber security experts have extensive knowledge and experience in the industry and are best placed to support you. Cyber security is at the heart of what we do, and we’re committed to offering businesses tailored solutions that effectively protect them online.