Royal Mail said no personal data was compromised during a cyberattack detected last week, though the UK postal firm continues to grapple with the situation and letters and parcels are still not being exported.
(Bloomberg) — Royal Mail said no personal data was compromised during a cyberattack detected last week, though the UK postal firm continues to grapple with the situation and letters and parcels are still not being exported.
Chief Executive Officer Simon Thompson told a House of Commons panel Tuesday that based on the investigation so far, no data breach took place, though the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates data privacy, has been informed.
“If that situation should change, then of course we will let the customers and the authorities know immediately,” Thompson told members of Parliament.
Royal Mail is still unable to make international deliveries and continues to ask that people refrain from posting any items bound for other countries, Thompson said in response to questions from the business, energy and industrial strategy committee.
He added that the company, which has been working with national security agencies following the attack, has been advised that discussing fine or additional details of the situation would be detrimental to the investigation.
However, when pressed on why no substantive updates have been provided, Thompson said that while the incident remains ongoing, further news is anticipated in the “very near future.” That’s likely to include information for customers on workarounds that are being pursued, he said.
A so-called ransomware gang known as LockBit was behind the Royal Mail attack and used encryption to lock computers, rendering them inoperable, people familiar with the matter have said. It usually demands payment to free up systems and often threatens to leak stolen data.
Shares of International Distributions Services Plc, the parent of Royal Mail, which has also been hit by a spate of strikes over pay and proposed changes to working hours, traded 3% lower as of 12:06 p.m. in London.
Read more: Notorious Ransomware Gang Accused of Attack on UK’s Royal Mail
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