Flagship Group cyberattack caused by serious ransomware

Websites, systems and services have been offline for over a week after the Flagship Group cyberattack hit the housing company.

An official statement from Flagship Group’s website informs us that, on the 1^st November 2020, a major cyberattack occurred that has resulted in most of their systems being taken offline. In quick response to the attack, Flagship Homes took many of their systems and services down to prevent the spread of the event.

It is currently unknown exactly how many people have been affected by the Flagship Group cyberattack. However, it has been confirmed that some personal data has been compromised in the breach. Flagship Group has warned customers to be wary of potential cold calls and phishing emails that could result in fraudulent activity.

Data affected in the Flagship Group cyberattack

It has been confirmed that the Flagship Group cyberattack was caused by ransomware known as Sodinokibi. As such, it is likely that the cybercriminals have used the ransomware program to encrypt files stored on the Flagship Group’s computer system to then demand that they pay a ransom to regain access to their own files.

Exactly what data is involved in the Flagship Group cyberattack has not been revealed, but it could include personal information for customers and staff, and this may include contact information and may possibly include financial and payment data being stored by the Norwich-based company.

Flagship Group, through their housing branch Flagship Homes, reportedly own and manage 31,000 homes in England and employ over 1,200 people in their repairs, facilities, heating and maintenance departments. This could give us an idea about the potential scale of exactly how many personal details could have been exposed in the cyberattack.

Flagship Group’s statement regarding the cyberattack

David McQuade, Chief Executive of Flagship Group, said:

‘We take the privacy and security of our customer and staff data very seriously, and we’re very sorry that it has been compromised. Over the last few days, the incident has caused considerable disruption to staff and customer services, and we are concentrating on emergency situations, to ensure our customers are safe.

‘Our teams are working tirelessly around the clock to bring our systems back online, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.’

Flagship Group has reported the cyberattack to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), Action Fraud and the Regulator of Social Housing, and is understood to be working with the National Cybersecurity Centre and the National Crime Agency.

What now for any victims?

Flagship Group is required to contact anyone whose data has been affected by the breach once they are aware. If you are contacted by them, you could be eligible to make a data breach compensation claim with us.

We may be able to represent eligible clients on a No Win, No Fee basis. This means that, if a case is lost, you do not have to pay our fees, subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement in place.

Usually, once victims are notified that their information has been misused or exposed, we receive contact from concerned individuals. We are on hand to help when this is the case.