Tusla will begin contacting the 20,000 people whose personal information was stolen in the 2021 Health Service Executive cyberattack.
The Children and Families Agency said that personal information of some people who are involved in Tusla’s services and some employees has been illegally accessed and copied.
The information includes reports made to Tusla, reports and correspondence with users of the service.
Names, addresses, telephone numbers and leave and travel expenses of the employees were also obtained, reports RTE.
It added that there is currently no evidence that any of the stolen information has been posted online on the “dark web” or elsewhere, but that it is continuing to monitor the situation with the assistance of cyber security experts.
Tusla said it is currently trying to verify the addresses of the 20,000 people affected and will begin contacting them by registered mail.
Tusla Director of Services and Integration Kate Duggan said: “We sincerely regret the impact this criminal cyber attack has had on people who have been involved with Tusla services, and on our teams across the country, and we will be apologising to each person we write to as part of our notification process. We have worked hard to create a process that is transparent, empathetic and supportive for those who have been affected,” reports RTE.
Tusla said it had received a High Court order prohibiting any sharing, processing, sale or publication of the data stolen as part of the cyberattack and that of the Data Protection Commissioner following the attack.
Tusla said it carefully reviewed the information to identify data subjects in accordance with GDPR guidance and Data Protection Commission guidance.
The union representing social workers says the compromise of Tusla’s information is a major concern in the HSE cyberattack.
Vivian Geeran, president of the Irish Association of Social Workers, said that although it was a relief that the main case management system could not be accessed, confidentiality is important to the social work profession, so the compromise of such information is of significant concern, reports RTE.
He praised the agency for providing both information and support to those affected and said that while for some they will be able to handle the information well, others may be more personally affected by the revelation that their data has been compromised.
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