Cyber Awareness Month - Reporting Cybercrime

FAO: Senior Leaders, IT Managers, Data Protection Officers, Governors, Data Managers , 14 October 2024 10:33

For all instances of Cybercrime, as well as the below national guidance, please ensure that your IT Support Provider is informed to enable them to take any necessary actions as a matter of urgency.

Preparing for Incidents

Unforeseen events, both malicious and accidental, can occur in many ways. You should prepare for the most common threats you face by developing plans to handle those incidents most likely to occur.

Identify critical systems and assets
Identity what business processes and systems are critical to keep you running
Identify key stakeholders
Create an incident plan - template from LGFL (you may need to enter your email address to access)

If you are subject to a Cyber-attack, please follow the below instructions

Ongoing live cyber attack

Call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Reporting a Cyber Attack which isn't ongoing

Please report online to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. You can report cybercrime online at any time using the online reporting tool, which will guide you through simple questions to identify what has happened. Action Fraud advisors can also provide the help, support and advice you need.

Alternatively, you can call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (textphone 0300 123 2050).

When you report a fraud to Action Fraud, you are given a police crime reference number and your case will be referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), which is run by the police.

In some cases, the police and other law enforcement agencies may want to contact you for further details, so it's important that you provide your correct contact details and keep any relevant information about the crime.

Although the police cannot investigate every report individually, the information you provide will aid them. The police use your information to build up intelligence about cybercrime, which includes who is committing what crimes and against whom. This contributes to making the UK a more hostile place for cybercriminals to operate in and helps to keep other potential victims safe.

Reporting a cybersecurity incident with data breach

When you suffer a cyber-attack, or a related cybersecurity incident, you might need to report it to the Information Commissioner's office (ICO). Please refer to your Data Protection Officer (DPO) for guidance.

Under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, from the 25th of May 2018 it is mandatory that you also report data breaches to the ICO within 72 hours. Action Fraud and the Police will not report any contact with them to the ICO.

Reporting a Suspicious Website

If you have visited a website you think is trying to scam you, report it to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and they'll investigate.

Simply enter the website URL or link, how you received the site details and any more information you want to provide.

This should also be reported to your IT Support provider or Internet Provider to ensure the website URL is blocked on your filtering.

Reporting a Suspicious Email

If you have received an email which you're not quite sure about, don't use the links or contact details in the email, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) using report@phishing.gov.uk and to your IT Support provider.

Did you know that the NCSC has an Outlook plugin so users can report phishing direct from their mailbox? Read more here.