Greater Manchester Police is the latest force to fall victim to yet another cyberattack. As of late, hackers are repeatedly targeting police forces and incidents like this are becoming all too common.
ACC Colin McFarlane of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), released a statement on the organisation’s website: ‘We are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a third-party supplier of various UK organisations, including GMP, which holds some information on those employed by GMP. At this stage, it’s not believed this data includes financial information. We understand how concerning this is for our employees so, as 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, their questions are answered and they feel supported. This is being treated extremely seriously, with a nationally-led criminal investigation into the attack.’
Cian Heasley, Security Consultant at Adarma, commented on the news: “Incidents like this one affecting a third-party supplier of the Greater Manchester Police highlight that in today’s business environment it is necessary to consider not just the exposure, risk and security of your own organisation but also the organisations and companies that you rely upon. The ICO statistics for 2022 showed a small rise in reported ransomware incidents in the UK to a new record number. 2023 shows no sign of a reduction in organisations that are preyed upon by these cybercriminal gangs.”
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