Age Exchange has recently been informed of a data security incident affecting Beacon CRM (‘Beacon’), the third-party system we use to manage information about our supporters, volunteers, members and partners.
On Monday 3rd August Beacon notified us that it had experienced a cyber security incident which resulted in a data security breach. Beacon is used by many charities across the UK, meaning this incident has affected lots of organisations across the sector. You may have seen this in the news.
As soon as they notified us, we began our own internal investigations working with our internal teams and external experts, to establish the impact of the cyber incident on our own systems and data. Beacon have not been able to confirm exactly what data has been accessed, so they have advised all organisations using the system that they should work on that basis that any data held within it may have been impacted.
At this stage, there is no evidence that this information has been published or misused, and we are not aware of any fraud or harm resulting from this incident.
We have reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office and are following their guidance as part of our ongoing response. We are now in the process of contacting potentially impacted individuals and groups directly, where appropriate.
Protecting the personal information entrusted to us is extremely important. We understand that news of a data security incident may be concerning, and we want to reassure everyone that we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness.
We will continue to work closely with Beacon, cyber security specialists and relevant authorities to understand the full circumstances of the incident and any implications for those whose information may be affected.
We are committed to being open and transparent throughout this process and will provide updates if more information becomes available. We sincerely apologise for any concern this incident may cause and thank our supporters, volunteers, members and partners for their understanding and patience while we continue our investigations.
We have created a list of FAQs which you can access below. If you have any further questions, please contact us directly at hello@age-exchange.org.uk