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 March 2022, three years after the incident, the PFEW finally admitted liability for unlawfully processing police officers’ personal data by not having the appropriate technical and organisational measures in place. PFEW claims there is no evidence that data was actually taken. Nevertheless, PFEW members affected by the data breaches still haven’t been told exactly what happened.
Many members have experienced lasting distress following these cyberattacks and have contacted us to help establish the facts and make a compensation claim.
The action that KP Law has launched against the PFEW is proceeding for in excess of 19,000 officers by way of a lead claimant group that will go to trial in the coming 18 months. As the 6-year anniversary of the breaches now approaches, KP Law has closed the group and there is now no further acceptance of new claimants to this action by KP Law.
Any affected member of the PFEW who wishes to make a claim for any losses caused by these breaches should ensure that they do so by filing claims with the Court before the 6 year anniversary of the breaches on 9 March 2025.
KP Law has some of the most skilled data breach lawyers in England and Wales. Here are just some of our success stories.
KP Law is a founding member of the Collective Redress Lawyers Association (CORLA). CORLA aims to improve access to justice for claimants by way of collective redress.