The Metropolitan Police of London heightened its state of alert on Sunday after falling victim to a digital intrusion that compromised employee data. According to official statements, unauthorized access was gained to the information technology system of a third-party contractor involved in operations with the police force.
The company in question possesses critical information, such as officers’ names, their ranks, pictures, levels of access, and salary values. Although residential addresses, phone numbers, and financial details were not part of the breached data, the scope of the compromise raises serious concerns.
Hackers penetrated the IT systems of the firm responsible for printing ID cards and permits for the police force, said a report by the British newspaper, “The Sun on Sunday.” The Metropolitan Police, the largest police force in the United Kingdom, is now working with the company to investigate any security flaws related to the compromised data. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police could not confirm the exact date of the breach or the number of individuals who may be affected, but stated that “security measures have been put in place as a result of this report.”
The Metropolitan Police Federation, representing the police force, entered the crisis line warning that this cyberattack could “cause undue concern and anger among colleagues.”
This intrusion follows a recent admission by the Northern Ireland Police Department that they mistakenly published personal data of all their employees in response to a Freedom of Information request. Moreover, this cybersecurity lapse comes months after the threat level for terrorism was elevated to “severe” in the UK following an assassination attempt on a senior police officer by dissident Republicans.
Furthermore, there have been other related incidents. Police forces in Norfolk and Suffolk, UK, announced that personal data for more than a thousand individuals, including crime victims, had been leaked. Just last Wednesday, South Yorkshire Police consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office after noticing a “significant and unexplained drop in the data stored on its systems.”
The consecutive nature of these events shines a spotlight on the escalating cyber threats facing law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, demanding immediate and strengthened security measures to protect sensitive data.
