The Metropolitan Police has reportedly experienced a data breach after a cyber security incident. The breach happened after an unauthorised party gained access to the systems of one of the force’s suppliers.
The names, ranks, photos, vetting levels, and pay numbers for officers could have been accessed.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents more than 30,000 officers, said that the compromised information could “do incalculable damage” in the wrong hands.
This is the latest in a series of breaches affecting police forces and their employees.
- In March 2019, The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) suffered two ransomware cyber-attacks. During the attacks, the hackers accessed the PFEW’s systems and encrypted several of its databases, making them inaccessible to the PFEW. The attacks also gave cybercriminals access to the same databases, which contained the personal information of around 130,000 police officers at all levels.
- In August 2023, an “industrial scale breach of data” in Northern Ireland saw the details of around 10,000 officers and staff published online for a number of hours. Information mistakenly released in this breach is in the hands of dissident republicans according to Northern Ireland’s police chief.
- In August 2019, over 750 annual benefit statements were sent to the wrong postal addresses. These statements were for police officers of Sussex Police. Equiniti, a company that provides support, communications and technology platforms to help manage company pensions, was responsible for distributing these statements.
- In August 2023, a data breach at Cumbria police exposed the names, positions, and salaries of more than 2,000 officers and staff, including those in covert and sensitive roles. The leak affects 1,304 police officers, 756 staff members and 52 police community support officers.
We have already been contacted by police officers who are worried about this latest breach. Many are experiencing significant levels of distress.
Our data protection experts are investigating this incident. If personal data has been compromised, we will launch a no-win-no-fee group action claim to help victims of this data breach claim compensation.
To register your interest in joining this action, please register below and we will be in touch to invite you to join our claim.