A major cyberattack on England’s Department for Education (DfE) has led to the theft of around 607,000 data records, British authorities have announced. The compromised information includes phone numbers and email addresses of individuals and organizations, but not banking data or other sensitive information.
The attack hit the Turing program portal, which funds international education projects, as well as the online service for users of the Ministry of Education. British authorities say the incident was quickly identified and stopped, while the risk to those affected is assessed to be limited.
The Ministry of Education has confirmed the attack and has begun working with the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate the case. The Information Commissioner’s Office has also been informed of the incident, writes the BBC.
Authorities clarified that the figure of 607,000 does not represent the number of people affected, but the total number of data records stored in the affected systems. “We have strict procedures for protecting information and reacted quickly to stop this incident. It only concerns customer service contact details for individuals and organisations.
No other data was accessed,” a Ministry spokesperson said. The National Crime Agency confirmed that it is working with partners to determine the perpetrators of the attack and the extent of the damage caused. According to authorities, the affected systems are expected to be fully restored by the end of the week. /Telegraph