Cybercriminals lifted info including addresses, ID numbers, and financial records from agency systems

A "significant amount of personal data" belonging to legal aid applicants dating back to 2010 in the UK was stolen by cybercriminals, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed today.

The announcement follows the initial news from May 6 of an attack on the UK's Legal Aid Agency (LAA), an MoJ-sponsored organization that allows legal aid workers to record their hours and bill the the government accordingly. The aid is means tested, granted to people on low incomes and with limited savings.

The attack itself was detected on April 23 but investigators found on May 16 that the damage was "more extensive than originally understood and that the group behind it had accessed a large amount of information relating to legal aid applicants."

Affected data goes back to 2010 and could include applicants' contact details, home addresses, dates of birth, national ID numbers, criminal histories, employment statuses, and financial data ...