LONDON: London’s Metropolitan Police said on Sunday it had taken security measures following “unauthorised access to the IT system of one of its suppliers” following a data breach at other forces.
The company in question had access to names, ranks, photos, clearance levels and pay numbers for officers and employees, but not addresses, phone numbers or financial information, it said.
The Sun newspaper on Sunday reported that “cyber crooks have breached the IT systems” of the firm, which reportedly prints identity cards and employment cards for the Met, Britain’s biggest police force.
Scotland Yard said the force was now working with the company to establish whether there had been any security breaches in relation to its data.
According to the spokesperson, it was not possible to say when the breach occurred or how many employees might be affected.
“Security measures have been taken… as a result of this report,” the force said in a statement.
The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the breach would “cause colleagues incredible concern and anger”.
“We share that sense of outrage … it’s a stunning security breach that should never have happened,” said Vice President Rick Prior.
It comes after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) admitted this month that the personal details of all serving members were accidentally released in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Details of around 10,000 PSNI officers and staff included the surname and first initials of each staff member, their rank or grade, where they were based and the unit they worked in.
The blunder comes months after the UK-administered province’s terror threat level was raised to “severe” in response to an assassination attempt on a senior police officer by dissident republicans.
After the PSNI breach was revealed, Norfolk and Suffolk Police also announced that the personal details of more than 1,000 people – including victims of crime – had been included in another FOI response.
On Wednesday, South Yorkshire Police referred the Information Commissioner’s Office after noticing a “significant and unexplained reduction in the data stored on its systems”.
