The charity, which provides free and confidential help to legal professionals, law students and their families, uses Beacon CRM (customer relationship management), to manage information about callers, supporters, donors, volunteers and fundraising contacts. Beacon, which is used by more than 1,000 charities, confirmed this week it was the victim of a cyber-attack.
None of the LawCare data affected contains bank account numbers, sort codes, card numbers or card security details.
LawCare interim CEO Trish McLellan and chair of trustees Emma Williams said: ‘We understand that this news may be worrying, and we are very sorry that information people have shared with us may have been affected.
‘Although this wasn’t an issue caused by LawCare, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our data protection impact assessment (DPIA), record of processing activities (ROPA) and business continuity plan, and we’re satisfied that the measures we have in place are robust. There is currently no evidence that any of this information has been published or misused and LawCare is not aware of any fraud or harm resulting from this incident.’
However, they urged anyone who has been in touch with LawCare to be cautious about unexpected phone calls, messages, emails, links or requests for personal information, which could be used for phishing, and to be particularly alert to any communication that appears to be from LawCare.
Anyone unsure about a LawCare message or who has questions or concerns can email LawCare’s data protection officer, Emma Manley on admin@lawcare.org.uk.
