Police officers in Greater Manchester reportedly had their clearance card details stolen in a major data breach, the Manchester Evening News reported.
The newspaper reported that the attack targeted a company used to produce its authorization cards and follows a similar attack on London’s Metropolitan Police last month.
The force confirmed information about its employees held by one of its suppliers who had been the target of an attack. The National Crime Agency is understood to be investigating.
Deputy Chief Constable Colin McFarlane of Greater Manchester Police said: “We are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a third party vendor to a number of UK organisations, including GMP, which contains some information about GMP employees. At this time, this data is not believed to include financial information.
“We understand how worrying this is for our employees, so while we work to understand any impact on GMP, we have contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office and are doing everything we can to ensure employees are kept informed, answer your questions and feel satisfied. supported.
“This is being treated extremely seriously and a nationwide criminal investigation into the attack is underway.”
