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Country’s largest housing association hit by cyber attack
The country’s largest housing association has been hit by a cyber attack, which has affected its IT systems and phone lines.
Clarion, which owns and manages 125,000 homes, said on its website that it was working urgently with its cyber security partner to restore systems after the attack.
It added that it was too early to tell whether any tenant data may have been impacted at this stage.
According to a spokesperson, Clarion staff noticed disruptions to some of its systems last weekend and notified residents on Monday telling them there was a systems issue. A further update was sent on Thursday.
The landlord said the attack had affected a number of its phone lines and it is now advising residents not to contact it by phone unless they need to book an emergency repair, which is anything that affects a tenant’s health and safety.
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Clarion added that tenants should assume that any email sent to the landlord since last Friday has not been received.
The association said it is rapidly engaging with partners to fix the situation, but added it could not give a timeline for a fix and that it could take some time to get all systems back fully online in a safe and secure way.
The landlord also said that at this stage there was no evidence to suggest tenants should tell their banks about the incident and that it will tell all residents if their investigation deems any action necessary.
Rent and service charge payment systems have not been affected by the attack.
This is the latest cyber attack on a social housing landlord. Most recently, Gloucester City Council was the victim of an attack by hackers thought to be based in Russia.
Hackney Council and 32,00-home Flagship Homes have also been hit by attacks in recent years.
Inside Housing reported last year that Hackney Council’s housing services were still affected by an attack that took place in 2020.
A statement on Clarion’s website said: “We are very sorry for the inconvenience this will be causing you, and [we] are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
“If you’ve emailed us at any point since Friday, please assume that we haven’t received your message and contact us through our live chat system, Facebook or Twitter.”
