A new warning over cyber crime has been issued – just as one of the largest utility companies in the county revealed it has been hacked.
South Staffordshire PLC, the parent company of South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water, was targeted and believes the bank details of some of its 1.3 million customers could have been accessed.
It is now liaising with the National Crime Agency and has issued an apology to customers about the attack, which is reported to have taken place on August 16.
At the same time businesses are being asked to not only be vigilant and carry out preventative measures regarding cyber attacks but report any incidents to the police so they can be investigated.
Staffordshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams said: “Cyber crime and subsequent cyber ransom attacks are rising all the time.
“It is one of those things that is invisible in the main as people aren’t reporting it to the degree they should. It is certainly the area of growing concern in terms of criminality.”
“Lots of people experience this and don’t go to the police or don’t advertise it because it’s not something necessarily you want to tell you competitors or your clients.”
“So, take precautions – such as using remote back-ups of data that are not connected to servers. But if things do go wrong speak to the police as we have the services there to look after you and help ensure it doesn’t destroy your future prospects.”
