More than a million people who applied for legal aid may be at risk of fraud after hackers stole data from claims going back 15 years in a major cyber attack.
The Ministry of Justice conceded on Sunday that a devastating cyber attack last month was far worse than initially assessed after hackers revealed they had stolen millions of pieces of sensitive information.
Court cases across the country will be affected after hackers forced the main system for managing legal aid offline in the attack.
Lawyers have blamed the ‘antiquated’ IT system used by the Legal Aid Agency as it emerged that more than a million people could be at risk of fraud or extortion, including claimants and their lawyers who have submitted applications since 2010.
The stolen data includes contact details and addresses of legal aid applicants, their dates of birth, national insurance numbers, criminal records, employment status and financial data such as contribution amounts, debts and payments.
The banking details of lawyers paid for criminal and civil cases are also at risk.
Official figures show that about 85,500 legal aid certificates were issued for criminal cases in the crown courts, with another 940,000 for the magistrates’ courts in the last year alone.
There were also nearly 109,000 civil claim certificates granted, with another 7,100 allocated for mediation schemes that exist outside of court.
More than a million people who applied for legal aid may be at risk of fraud after hackers stole data from claims going back 15 years in a major cyber attack
Officials were unable to say exactly how many people had been affected yesterday, but confirmed that a ‘significant amount of personal data’ had been downloaded during the attack on April 23.
Days later on May 1, the Daily Mail received information about a serious cyber attack crippling the court system.
But the Ministry of Justice denied at the time that any such attack had happened.
Yesterday officials stressed that they were unable to provide information because the target of the attack was the legal aid system, not the wider court system.
The system, which is used by legal aid providers to log their work and get paid by the Government, has remained offline.
Hackers claim to have accessed around 2.1million pieces of data.
Ciaran Martin, the former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said: ‘This is at the more serious end of data breaches because of the national insurance numbers, plus criminal records, plus the financial transactions about benefits and employment status.
‘That’s very useful to fraudsters, criminals and extorters on the criminal record side. That’s a pretty bad one.’
The Ministry of Justice conceded that a devastating cyber attack last month was far worse than initially assessed after hackers revealed they had stolen millions of pieces of sensitive information
Chris Minnoch, the chief executive of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, warned that the hack could disrupt live cases saying: ‘Legal aid providers generally operate within very tight or even non-existent financial margins… so disruption to LAA processes is a serious problem. There is also the issue of how the disruption will impact on live proceedings.’
Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, a professional body that represents solicitors, said: ‘It is extremely concerning that members of the public have had their personal data compromised in this cyber security incident and the LAA must get a grip on the situation immediately.
‘The incident once again demonstrates the need for sustained investment to bring the LAA’s antiquated IT system up to date and ensure the public have continued trust in the justice system.’
It is understood the attack happened as the MoJ has been working on replacing the internal system with a new version hoped to be up and running in the coming weeks.
Officials blamed ‘long years of neglect and mismanagement of the justice system under the last government’ yesterday.
Legal Aid Agency chief executive Jane Harbottle said: ‘I understand this news will be shocking and upsetting for people and I am extremely sorry this has happened.
‘Since the discovery of the attack, my team has been working around the clock with the National Cyber Security Centre to bolster the security of our systems so we can safely continue the vital work of the agency.
‘However, it has become clear that, to safeguard the service and its users, we needed to take radical action. That is why we’ve taken the decision to take the online service down.’
It is the latest serious cyber attack to affect the public sector and comes after a series of retail companies were targeted, including Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods
The UK’s cyber security agency has warned that ‘hostile nation states’ led by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are believed to be at the forefront of malign online activity
It is the latest serious cyber attack to affect the public sector and comes after a series of retail companies were targeted, including Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods.
An attack in June last year on Synnovis, an NHS pathology lab, disrupted patient care at south London hospitals and two Liverpool hospitals were affected by cyberattacks in December.
Transport for London had its systems crippled by an attack in September last year that cost tens of millions of pounds.
The UK’s cyber security agency has warned that ‘hostile nation states’ led by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are believed to be at the forefront of malign online activity, along with groups using ransomware to extort money.
Last week Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre said: ‘We’ve managed more than 200 incidents since September. That includes twice as many nationally significant incidents as the same period a year ago.’
