The UK’s Legal Aid Agency is among the latest high profile examples of a cyber-attack resulting in a significant data breach. The incident is all the more worrying because of the sensitive nature of the data accessed in the attack.
The Ministry of Justice reported in May 2025 that a “significant amount of personal data” of people who applied online to the Legal Aid Agency since 2010, including criminal records, was accessed and downloaded in a cyber-attack in April 2025.
Media reports on the incident suggest that more than two million pieces of information were taken, including details of domestic abuse victims, people involved in family cases and those facing criminal prosecution.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that the data may have included addresses of applicants, dates of birth, national ID numbers, criminal history, employment and financial data such as debts and payments.
The recurring problem with data beaches of highly sensitive and special category data is not just the immediate exposure and vulnerabilities caused, it is the unknown future illicit uses of the stolen data, which can be surprising and very harmful to all involved.
Data Protection and Cybersecurity Partner at Excello Law.
Evolving cyber security threat landscape
The cybersecurity threat landscape is rapidly evolving, shaped by technological innovation, global instability and sometimes opportunism by cybercriminals.
The proliferation of AI, including Generative AI, AI bots, and co-pilots, is expanding the potential for digital attacks. The acceleration of AI adoption has outpaced governance frameworks, widening knowledge, solutions, and resilience gaps. In addition, cybercriminals are leveraging Generative AI to enhance social engineering attacks, making them more effective and harder to detect.
Geopolitical instability is also a rising threat. State-linked Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are actively engaging in cyberwarfare, targeting critical national infrastructure with sophisticated campaigns.
These groups exploit supply chain vulnerabilities to maximize impact, often driven by political and economic motivations. For organizations operating globally, real-time threat intelligence and geopolitical awareness are essential, especially when working with unfamiliar partners or entering new markets.
Cloud infrastructure is under growing pressure as threat actors refine their tactics. CrowdStrike reported a 75% year-on-year rise in cloud intrusions, with attackers increasingly using stealthy, staged operations to establish footholds and move laterally across hybrid IT environments.
Supply chain insecurity remains a persistent concern. The 2024 Microsoft–CrowdStrike incident, which triggered one of the largest global IT outages to date, demonstrated the systemic risk of over-reliance on a few key technology providers. The fallout, which impacted a range of sectors from aviation to healthcare, underscored the urgent need to audit, monitor, and diversify supply chains, as well as share breach intelligence more effectively.
On a more promising note, AI is also proving to be a valuable defense tool. It enhances anomaly detection, vulnerability classification, automated patching, and configuration management. Large Language Models (LLMs) are augmenting the threat intelligence lifecycle, from analyzing attacker behavior to powering deception technologies like honeypots. As AI becomes more embedded in cyber defense strategies, it offers the potential for faster, smarter, and more adaptive responses to emerging threats.
Managing cyber risks
Cyberattacks of all kinds are rising. Any type of organization can be a victim. The cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for a holistic and proactive approach to cyber security.
When high profile cyberattacks occur, leaders often seek reassurance. They often request information about what can be done first or quickly. The urgent response is to go back to basics: check key data protection practices, review GDPR compliance, strengthen basic information security safeguards and encourage important suppliers to be on high alert. From a legal and operational standpoint, organizations, particularly those handling sensitive information and special category data, should prioritize the following measures:
- Engagement at board level: Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue. It is a board-level responsibility. Effective resilience depends on cross-functional collaboration among leadership, cybersecurity specialists, legal advisors, internal auditors, HR, digital forensics experts, and crisis communication teams. A multi-disciplinary response capability is essential to manage both the technical, legal and reputational dimensions of a breach.
- Continuous preparedness: To ensure a robust security architecture, organizations must look beyond having the right tools in place. It is vital to implement vulnerability management on a continuous basis, with timely patching protocols and a focus on regular training of employees.
- Data Breach Practice and Preparedness: Practice makes perfect, and simulated incident response exercises, including table-top scenarios, are critical in ensuring readiness for data breaches. It is also advisable for organizations to have a learning and development mindset and extract lessons from near-misses and close calls, rather than seeking to brush these under the carpet and quickly move on.
- Due diligence for AI integration: Generative AI is evolving apace, and it can be tempting for organizations to rush in to deploy it. However, innovation should work in partnership with security. Due diligence is vital. Before integrating new AI platforms or other emerging technologies, organizations should conduct comprehensive assessments of their security credentials and weigh up any additional cyber security risk exposure these systems might introduce.
- Third-party risk management: Cyber resilience does not end at the network perimeter. Organizations must map, monitor, and regularly audit their supply chains to identify vulnerabilities. Where high-risk vendors are identified, mitigation actions should be taken swiftly. Mitigation may include stopping working with a supplier or limiting the amount of work with them. Every business should have a strong third-party risk management framework as a cornerstone in their cybersecurity environment.
Critical National Infrastructure cyberattacks like those affecting The Legal Aid Agency reminds us that cyber resilience requires ongoing commitment. Cybersecurity must be embedded across all levels of an organization, including boards, leadership teams, mission critical data sets to supply chain management.
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