Stephen Bonner

PA Wire The UK’s data protection regulator has issued a reprimand to the London Borough of Hackney over its handling of a cyber attack. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the council had “failed to effectively implement sufficient measures” to protect its systems from attack. The borough was targeted by hackers in October 2020 in an attack which saw cyber criminals gain access to and encrypt 440,000 files, affecting at least 280,000 residents and other individuals.

Experian said it is “very pleased” with the outcome and it remains deeply committed to transparency, safeguarding privacy and helping consumers to better understand and control the use of their data. The Tribunal found, in support of the ICO, that Experian had not processed the personal data of over five million individuals transparently, fairly or lawfully because it failed to notify them that it was processing their data for direct marketing purposes.