Security News > 2021 > January > Today's 'sophisticated cyber attack' victim is the Woodland Trust: Pre-Xmas breach under investigation

The Woodland Trust, a peaceful British charity that looks after trees, was struck by a "Cyber attack" before Christmas.

Members of the trust, which says it has planted 43 million trees since its foundation in 1972, were informed last night of what was inevitably described as a "Sophisticated, high level cyber-incident."

Chief exec Darren Moorcroft told Woodland Trust members in an email sent yesterday afternoon: "As soon as we became aware of the incident we engaged a group of external specialists who launched an investigation and also took immediate action in order to mitigate the impact."

The charity said in a statement on its website that "No data has been compromised" that it knows of, though it warned members to be vigilant for unusual phonecalls or communications appearing to come from the trust or from banks.

The attack is believed to have taken place "After 7pm on 14 December", which appears to refer to the first detected intrusion onto the Woodland Trust's systems.

Charities in particular tend to hold large quantities of personal data in the form of member lists, so they may form the next front line in the eternal counter-ransomware war.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/01/27/woodland_trust_cyber_attack/