Updated: May 19
WHN Solicitors received an update from the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) regarding an ongoing cyber security incident affecting its digital services.
What happened?
The LAA became aware of a cyber-attack on the LAA’s online digital services on April 23. These systems are used by legal aid providers, including WHN Solicitors, to log work and process payments from the Government.
Since the incident, the LAA has been working with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre and has informed the Information Commissioner’s office to address and investigate the breach.
Nature of the data breach
On Friday May 16, the LAA informed us that the group behind the attack had accessed a large amount of information relating to legal aid applicants across the UK.
This data may include:
- Full names and contact information
- Home addresses
- Dates of birth
- National Insurance or ID numbers
- Employment status and criminal history
- Financial data such as contributions, debts and payments
What should you do?
If you have applied for Legal Aid recently, the LAA strongly encourages you to take the following steps to protect your personal information:
- Stay alert for suspicious communications, including unknown emails, texts, or phone calls.
- Change and strengthen your passwords, especially if the same ones were used across multiple services.
- Verify identities before sharing any personal information online or over the phone. If in doubt, seek independent confirmation.
For further practical advice, the National Cyber Security Centre has published detailed guidance on how to protect yourself from the consequences of a data breach. You can access it here: Data breach guidance for individuals – NCSC.GOV.UK.
What WHN Solicitors is doing
At WHN Solicitors, safeguarding client information is a top priority. In response to the incident:
- We have immediately changed our access credentials to LAA digital services.
- We are monitoring LAA updates daily and following all guidance provided.
Contact us
If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Bury office on 0161 761 4611. Our team is here to support you.
