Islanders are being told to brace for a wave of scam emails after cyber-criminals hacked multiple Jersey organisations and got their hands on personal information.
What happened?
The Jersey Cyber Security Centre said it has been supporting several organisations following the attack, which has involved attackers gaining access to organisations’ contact lists.
Centre director Matt Palmer said that the stolen data would enable the cyber-criminals to send “phishing” emails designed to trick recipients into sharing sensitive information such as passwords and financial details.
“We are supporting affected organisations to respond to the incident and are carrying out our own investigation,” he said. “We appreciate these organisations coming forward and seeking out support and advice – they have done everything they can to respond to this incident.
“However, we think it is highly likely that Islanders will see an increase in phishing emails in the coming weeks – people should be especially wary of unexpected or suspicious-looking emails and should take basic steps to keep themselves safe.”
What do I do?
The recommended measures are to:
- Check the details on emails, looking at the full sender address and at where the links really go.
- Not click on or open unexpected links or attachments.
- Contact the organisation, using details you already have, or that you have looked up yourself. Never use the phone number or link in the message.
- Report the issue to phishing@jcsc.je
- Delete the message and block the sender.
More detailed guidance can be found here.
