Authorities investigating ransomware attack on charity that works with vulnerable children

pWe need your help nowppSupport from readers like you keeps The Journal openppYou are visiting us because we have something you value Independent unbiased news that tells the truth Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission but this year it has not been enoughppIf youve seen value in our reporting please contribute what you can so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism For everyone who needs itppA POLICE INVESTIGATION has been launched after a charity that works with vulnerable children suffered a data breach in a ransomware attackppExtern a crossborder social justice charity with offices in Belfast and Co Kildare has confirmed that it has been the victim of a large ransomware cyber attackppOne source told The Journal that staff bank account details addresses and email addresses had all been accessed by the hackers Extern would not say whether service users have also been impactedppThe charity which reportedly receives millions of euro in State funding from Tusla each year said The full extent of this incident is being investigated and contained by external cyber security specialistsppThe charity said it has informed the relevant regulators and authorities including the Police Service of Northern Ireland and An Garda Síochána It added that it has activated its critical response plan ppRansomware attacks are when a hacker or a group of hackers steal data from a person business organisation or government then hold the data at ransom Typically they demand for money to be paid through crytocurrency or else the data will be leaked to the public ppExtern has been asked whether it has paid a ransom and if not whether it intends to ppppA spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland told The Journal that the police force received a report of a cyber attack that impacted a local charity on 9 April ppThe matter has been referred to specialist detectives in the Police Service of Northern Irelands Cyber Crime Investigation Team they addedppA spokesperson for the British Information Commissioners Office said Extern Group reported an incident to us and we are assessing the information providedppExtern said it is working as hard as possible to contain and resolve the incident ppExterns service delivery has not been impacted and continues to operate as normal it addedppThe Journal has contacted the Irish Data Protection Commissioner Tusla and gardaí for commentppExtern supports more than 20000 people including children young people and vulnerable individuals who are impacted by homelessness addiction poor mental health or those who have been recently released from the criminal justice systemppThe charity was established in 1978 and is headquartered in Belfast and is one of the leading social justice charities in the north of Ireland Young people would commonly be referred to its services by Tuslapp



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