UK Legal Aid Hack Includes ‘Significant Amount’ of Personal Data

Hackers have stolen a “significant amount of personal data” from people who received legal aid across England and Wales, the UK’s Ministry of Justice said.

A breach at the Legal Aid Agency that was identified by the government in April was found last week to have been worse than originally thought, according to a joint statement Monday from the agency and the Ministry.

The Legal Aid Agency is an executive body that provides legal funding and advice to people who need support with their legal problems. The agency processed more than 1.3 million bills and more than 360,000 applications for legal aid in the year ending March 31, 2024, according to its latest annual report. Its net expenditure in the period was £2.3 billion ($3.1 billion).

The stolen data included digital applications for legal aid over the last 15 years and may have included contact details and addresses of applicants, their dates of birth, national ID numbers, criminal history, employment status and financial data, according to the statement.

“My team has been working around the clock with the National Cyber Security Centre to bolster the security of our systems so we can safely continue the vital work of the agency,” Legal Aid Agency Chief Executive Officer Jane Harbottle said in the statement. The agency’s online services have been temporarily shut down while the intrusion is investigated, she said.

The breach is the latest significant hack to target the UK government and affiliated organizations. Last year, the Ministry of Defence said a payroll system run by an outside contractor had been compromised, exposing personal details of armed forces personnel. A cyberattack paralyzed National Health Service hospitals and clinics in London in 2024, resulting in long-term harm to some patients.

Photograph: Computer code displayed on screens arranged in Danbury, U.K., on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. Photo credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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