We were informed by the Legal Aid Agency in a letter last week that it identified a ‘security incident’. The letter said it was possible that financial information relating to legal aid providers had been accessed by a third party. The LAA could not confirm what, if any information was accessed but payment information may have been accessed.
In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘We take any data breach extremely seriously and have already taken action to bolster the security of the legal aid system. We’re working with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre to investigate the situation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.’
We will continue to monitor this situation and keep our clients informed of any updates we receive. Clients that are concerned about this data breach or have suspicions that they have been affected should read the guidance from the Government, which can be found here: Legal Aid Agency data breach – GOV.UK
