Forbes Hare was the victim of a “ransomware” cyber-attack which took place between 19 and 21 May 2021. Fortunately, the attack was substantially contained and no servers (on which the vast majority of client data resides) were compromised.
We worked with external Cyber Incident Response specialists to identify the cause of the incident, to contain the immediate risk and to advise as to any remedial steps to mitigate the risk of subsequent attack.
On 11 June 2021, we received notification that the gang responsible for the ransomware attack had shut down its operations and released decryption keys for their victims whose files had been encrypted. (No such decryption was in fact needed or sought by Forbes Hare.) In addition, the website on the Dark Web through which victims’ files were released has now been rendered inaccessible/offline.
While it is good news that Forbes Hare will not be subject to further leaks of confidential data via the hackers’ website, there remains a risk that the small number of files which had been exfiltrated (from local drives) as part of this attack may be sold or passed to unidentified third parties. We will continue to be alert to this risk.
We take the protection of client data very seriously. The vast majority of our clients will be unaffected. We apologise, however, for any inconvenience that this criminal activity may have caused to you. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact us on cyber@forbeshare.com or through the partner with whom you usually communicate.