Greater Manchester Police on Wednesday came under cyberattack as hackers allegedly stole thousands of officers’ warrant card details.
The hack is believed to have been aimed at a contactor firm used to produce the force’s warrant cars, Daily Mail UK reports.
Officers and staff were informed of the breach of their data on Wednesday.
The incident follows a near-identical cyber attack against the Metropolitan Police last month.
While reacting to the incident, the GMP Assistant Chief Constable, Colin McFarlane, in a statement said, “We are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a third-party supplier of various UK organisations, including GMP, which holds some information on those employed by GMP. At this stage, it’s not believed this data includes financial information.
“We understand how concerning this is for our employees so, as we work to understand any impact on GMP, we have contacted the Information Commissioner Office and are doing everything we can to ensure employees are kept informed, their questions are answered, and they feel supported.
“This is being treated extremely seriously, with a nationally led criminal investigation into the attack.”
