South Staffordshire Water faces large scale data breach following cyber-attack
South Staffordshire PLC have written to current and former employees to confirm that personal data has been compromised following a cyber-attack against subsidiary company South Staffordshire Water.
In August, South Staffordshire Water issued a statement to confirm that they had been the victim of a criminal cyber-attack.
“We are experiencing disruption to our corporate IT network and our teams are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.” The statement read. “It is important to stress that our customer service teams are operating as usual.
“We are working closely with the relevant government and regulatory authorities and will keep them, as well as our customers, updated as our investigations continue.”
This statement was published after a ransomware group claimed responsibility for hacking into a different water company’s network. Though the group mistakenly claimed to have hacked into Thames Water, the statement from South Staffordshire Water, and subsequent communications, indicates the ransomware group were mistaken.
The group released what appear to be stolen identification documents to prove their involvement, demanding extortion payment to prevent the release of stolen data. It is understood that the data has been subsequently posted to the dark web.
South Staffordshire Water has begun to contact individuals who have been affected by the breach, informing them of the risk their data may be misused.
Initial investigations from South Staffordshire Water indicate that payroll data, such as names, bank account details and driving licences are likely to have been impacted.
South Staffordshire Water claims to be continuing to assess the full extent of the data impacted, which means there may be additional information belonging to employees which may be affected.
If you have been contacted by South Staffordshire Water to confirm that your data has been compromised in the breach, or you have reason to believe that this is the case, you may be in a position to claim compensation.
At Hayes Connor, our team of data breach solicitors are ready to provide expert support and guidance on the claims process. To find out more about how you can make a data breach claim, please get in touch.
What to do if you are concerned about the South Staffordshire Water data breach
If your personal data was compromised in the South Staffordshire Water data breach, the company is legally obligated to inform you that this is the case. If you have not yet been contacted, but suspect that your data may have been compromised, you should get in contact with them as soon as possible.
Where your data has been exposed, you should also be extremely vigilant of any unexpected communications, especially if these come from someone claiming to be a representative of South Staffordshire Water. These could be ‘phishing’ attacks which are designed to extract further information from you.
There are various ways in which you can reduce the risk of cybercriminals using your personal data against you. To find out more, read our helpful guide on what to do if your data has been stolen in a data breach.
If your data has been exposed in the South Staffordshire Water data breach, you may be in a position to claim compensation. This is something the team at Hayes Connor can help you with.
How Hayes Connor can help you claim compensation for the South Staffordshire Water data breach
If a company holds any type of personal data, it must keep it secure and out of the hands of any unauthorised third parties. Should a company fail to uphold this obligation, anyone who has been affected may be in a position to claim compensation.
Hayes Connor has one of the largest teams of dedicated data breach specialists in the country. Between our team, we have a wealth of combined experience and expertise in handling these types of data breach claims and will be well place to guide you through the steps that need to be taken.
We can discuss your personal situation at length, and explain whether you will be in a position to claim compensation, how much you could be entitled to if you make a claim and how the general claims process works.
We appreciate that being the victim of a data breach can be an incredibly stressful experience. As such, we make sure to provide you with close personal support during the claims process, as well as keeping the entire process remains as straightforward as possible.
You can find out more about our expertise and how we handle data breach claims here.
To start a claim, you can use our online claim form.
To speak to a member of our team about the South Staffordshire Water data breach, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0151 363 5895.