The UK Postal Service has warned customers of “serious service disruption” for goods sent abroad after being hit by an unspecified “cyber incident”.
“We are temporarily unable to ship internationally. .
“Items already shipped may be delayed. We sincerely apologize to our affected customers for the confusion this incident has caused.”
The postal service is experiencing only minor delays in import operations, adding that its Parcelforce Worldwide brand is still serving international destinations, albeit with delays of one to two days.
“Our team is working around the clock to resolve this mess and will keep you informed as soon as we have more information,” he concluded.
“We immediately commenced an investigation into the incident and are cooperating with outside experts. We have reported the incident to regulatory and relevant security authorities.”
The UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) confirmed this in its own short statement.
“We are aware of the incident affecting the Royal Mail Group and are working with the company, along with the National Crime Agency, to fully understand its impact,” it confirmed.
The incident comes at a bad time for Royal Mail after workers stopped deliveries during the busy Christmas period during a strike over jobs, wages and conditions.
This type of service disruption is often tied to ransomware attacks, requiring victim organizations to quickly disconnect their IT systems before attackers can steal or scramble sensitive files. .
However, there is currently no indication as to what caused the incident.
CybSafe CEO Oz Alashe argued that best practices for mitigating the risk of service disruptions focus on people, processes and technology.
“From vulnerability assessment and network segmentation to data backup and regular patching, general cyber hygiene can help prevent incidents like this,” he added.
“But while technical solutions are important, there should be just as much emphasis on how we look at cybersecurity in terms of human behavior. We encounter cybersecurity through improvement programs, but it’s quickly forgotten in the turmoil of our busy lives, but the frequent tales of these major breaches are enough evidence to change this approach. ”
