Throughout 2019, the NCOA fully assisted the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) during their investigation into the ransomware attack that targeted many law enforcement related organisations, including the NCOA, last March.
The NCOA reacted to the breach extremely quickly, shutting down our entire system within minutes and notifying all members as soon as possible. A previously installed bespoke cloud based back up, ensured that whilst limited interruption to NCOA operations was necessary, our entire database was up and running within 72 hours without the loss of any data. The NCOA stood alone in the speed at which it reinstalled all services with some other victims of the attack still suffering the impacts several months later.
In delivering the NCOA’s exoneration of any blame and ‘clean bill of health’, the ICO specifically referred to:
- The nature & seriousness of the breach
- The number of individuals affected
- The duration of the breach
- The speed in which NCOA reacted to resolve the attack and
- The action (additional back up security) already taken by the NCOA
As part of our ongoing commitment to member data security, January 2020 will also see the NCOA innovatively migrate entirely to a virtual private network creating a highly secure cloud-based system with virtual desktop & server, two-factor authentication with bit defender antivirus and full data retention.
The protection of member data, and the ability to operate for you within a safe and secure environment, is of paramount importance to us and we hope that this demonstrates our commitment to your cyber security.
At the conclusion of the entire investigation which is expected shortly, the outcome of all related party’s including the NCOA, can be read at www.ico.org.uk
Simon Bashford
President
National Crime Officers Association