Salford’s housing register has been hit by a ‘cyber breach’ with the council warning that people’s personal information may have been revealed.
This morning, a message appeared on the Salford Home Search website telling users that the service has been temporarily suspended after the incident, which took place on August 2.
The software behind the website is managed by a third party company, but the council said the firm is not able to say how much personal data may have been revealed.
There are around 5,000 people on Salford’s housing register, and the council has warned users they may have received ‘phishing’ emails, which encourage people to click links and add personal data on an alternative website with the aim of stealing information.
Anyone worried they may have done this has been told to check their bank account for suspicious activity, change any passwords which are the same as their Salford Home Search account, and consider signing up for a free credit report.
A council update on the housing register website stated:
“We would like to apologise to all residents for the inconvenience but the strong stance on suspending the site is to protect local residents and their information.”
A resident who uses Salford Home Search said the situation is “really worrying” for people.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
“They [Salford’s housing register] have got all our information, our whole life is on there, medical records and bank information. It’s really worrying.
“I’ve checked my bank and everything is okay but there is still time, something might not happen right away.
“We don’t know what’s going on with the houses now either. People have to bid for them but we don’t know what’s happening. The council hasn’t sent us any communication about this. There will be people who don’t know about this happening.
“People using the service might be struggling anyway, if some have their money taken it’s going to be difficult for them.”
Miranda Cannon, executive director of resources and transformation at Salford City Council, said:
“The software behind Salford Home Search is not controlled by Salford City Council and is managed and maintained by a third party company.
“The council were notified by the company of a suspected breach on Friday August 2 and took decisive action to suspend the use of the site immediately to protect local people and their information.
“In the meantime council officers have adapted the way they work and will continue to support local residents.
“Police have been informed and we have notified the Information Commissioner’s Office about the attack as although it is not our software, we are the data holder.
“We’d like to apologise to residents but the site will remain suspended until we are confident it is safe to be used again.”
