Hackers have gained access to communications from thousands of Greater Manchester residents in a cyber attack on housing firm L&Q, which has offices in Old Trafford. The company said its systems were breached last week, with emails and webforms sent by around 12,000 residents accessed 'without authorisation'.
Investigation underway
L&Q is carrying out a 'comprehensive' investigation to understand how the breach happened. The company believes the incident is limited to online contacts from residents. Wider operating systems, which contain residents' personal details, financial information, data about homes and tenancies, and information relating to suppliers and partners, 'remain secure', it added.
The company website and online services for residents are currently unavailable as a result of the cyber attack, with residents still able to make contact by phone or email. This could remain down 'for some time' while the company makes sure it can restore the site 'safely and securely'.
Residents warned of fraud risk
Residents were alerted to the breach in an email from the company on Friday (September 25). The email, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, warned of an 'increased risk of fraud attempts and phishing' following the hack and offered advice to residents.
The email stated: "We're sorry to let you know that this week L&Q's website was subject to a targeted cyber-attack where an unauthorised person or organisation accessed emails and webform messages sent to us by approximately 12,000 L&Q residents. We're writing to you because an autoreply email containing the webform information you submitted was accessed during the attack.
"This means that your email address, and any information you sent to us in your message, is likely to have been accessed. So far, we've had no reports of anyone attempting to use this information maliciously, however there is an increased risk of fraud attempts and phishing because of this incident.
"Our team is working hard to understand the full extent of the incident, but we wanted to contact you at this early stage as a precaution to advise you of what's happened, and urge you to be vigilant should anyone with fraudulent intentions contact you as a result of this incident."
Advice for residents
Residents are advised to not give out their bank details to anyone claiming to be from L&Q, saying its teams would never ask people to confirm their identity through these details. People should also not let anyone into their homes without a prior appointment and to call the contact centre if they are in doubt as to whether an appointment is legitimate.
If residents are unsure if a call is genuine, they can request the operative call back using the contact centre phone number to check. Links and attachments from unknown senders should not be opened.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chief executive at L&Q, said: "We are currently responding to a targeted cyber security incident that has affected L&Q's website. As soon as we detected the issue, our Information Security team took immediate steps to isolate and secure our website, and we are carrying out a comprehensive investigation to understand how this happened, and ensure we can restore the site safely and securely as soon as possible.
"The incident resulted in emails and webforms sent to us by approximately 12,000 residents being accessed without authorisation. Our investigation so far indicates that the incident is limited to the online contact made by these residents. Our wider operating systems, containing residents' personal details, data about homes and tenancies, and information relating to suppliers and partners, remain secure.
"We have contacted directly affected residents with further information and guidance about online safety, and we will be keeping them fully informed about this incident, and how it may affect them, in the days ahead. Whilst our website remains unavailable, residents can continue to access our services by telephone or email.
"We know this incident will be concerning for residents, and I want to apologise for any worry or inconvenience this may cause. We sincerely appreciate everyone's patience and understanding during this time."
The Local Democracy Reporting Service approached Greater Manchester Police for a comment. L&Q manages one of the largest portfolios of affordable homes in Trafford borough, along with homes in London, the south east and the wider north west.
