A cyberattack on Dyfed-Powys Police has raised concerns that information belonging to officers and other employees may have been accessed, although investigators have found no evidence that personal data belonging to the public was compromised.
The Welsh police force detected the incident on September 14 after attackers disrupted some of its non-emergency systems. Online and email contact with police became temporarily unavailable, but both services have since been restored.
Emergency policing continued throughout the disruption. The force said its 999 and 101 telephone services were unaffected and its ability to respond to emergencies remained operational.
The biggest unanswered question now concerns information held about police personnel. Dyfed-Powys Police said it is investigating whether any staff information was accessed or compromised during the attack and is taking steps to protect potentially affected data.
The force has more than 2,000 officers and civilian employees and serves over 500,000 people across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys.
Police have not disclosed what types of employee information may have been accessible to the attackers. There is also no public information identifying who carried out the intrusion, how access was obtained or whether ransomware or another form of malware was involved.
Cybersecurity specialists are assisting with the investigation, while precautionary measures have been applied to police systems as services are safely restored. Tarian, the regional organized crime unit for southern Wales, is managing the investigation through its cybercrime unit. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has also been notified about the incident.
Potential exposure of police employee information could create additional risks even after the original intrusion is contained. Details about officers and staff could potentially make targeted phishing and social engineering attempts more convincing, particularly if attackers were able to combine internal information with other publicly available details.
Police employees have consequently been advised to remain alert to unexpected communications, particularly emails, text messages or phone calls attempting to create urgency or obtain sensitive information.