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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

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More than 100 organisations hit by cyber attack

This news post is over 3 years old
 

The National Trust and Sue Ryder are amongst those who have been affected by a cyber attack, alongside universities and other firms

More charities have revealed they fell victim to an international cyber attack.

The National Trust and Sue Ryder have confirmed they have also been affected by an attack on cloud computing provider Blackbaud.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said so far up to 125 organisations have made a report in relation to the incident.

Dozens of UK universities are said to be involved, and internationally the attack has also affected museums, foodbanks and churches.

The National Trust said that data about its volunteering and fundraising communities had been involved, but not that of its wider 5.6 million members.

"We are currently in the process of identifying and informing those affected," Jon Townsend, the trust's chief information officer, told the BBC.

"We have reported the incident to the UK's regulator for data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office and the Charity Commission."

Yesterday, TFN reported that Crisis and Young Minds had both fallen victim to the attack.

Blackbaud opted to pay those who had carried out the ransomware attack, to ensure that data stolen would not be made public.

A statement from the company said: “We believe the strength of our cybersecurity practice and advance planning is the reason we were able to shut down this sophisticated ransomware attack. We have already implemented changes to prevent this specific issue from happening again.”

The ICO urged any organisation who believe they may have been affected to get in touch.

A spokesperson said: "BlackBaud has reported a data breach incident which has potentially affected a large number of UK organisations using its services and we are making enquiries.

"Organisations involved should be getting in touch with their customers to inform them if their personal data has been impacted."