The Legal Aid Agency (LAA), an executive agency of the UK's Ministry of Justice that oversees billions in legal funding, warned law firms of a security incident and said the attackers might have accessed financial information. The UK National Crime Agency has told BleepingComputer that it's working closely with the MoJ and the UK's National Cyber Security Centre to probe the incident and support LAA's ongoing investigation. "This incident is being investigated in accordance with our data security processes, and action has been taken to mitigate the incident," the agency's letter reads. The DragonForce ransomware operation claimed all three attacks, and BleepingComputer has learned that the threat actors who orchestrated them used the same social engineering attack to breach Co-op and M&S. NCA officers are working alongside partners in the National Cyber Security Centre and MoJ to better understand the incident and support the department," NCA said. Since then, the country's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published guidance and advised all UK organizations to follow it to strengthen their cybersecurity defenses. "We are aware of a cyber incident affecting the Legal Aid Agency. On Friday, May 1st, Harrods confirmed that it restricted internet access to sites after threat actors also tried to breach its network, suggesting an active response to a cyberattack, although a breach has yet to be confirmed. Approximately 2,000 providers, including barristers, solicitor firms, and non-profit organizations, deliver civil and criminal legal aid services in England and Wales under contracts with the LAA. This incident follows high-profile cyberattacks targeting the Co-op, Harrods, and Marks & Spencer (M&S) UK retail chains.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Tue, 06 May 2025 16:25:07 +0000