Data security incident information – Updated 050826 at 11:11

Latest updates will be shared on this page as and when further information is available. 

Latest update

The Customer Help Portal is back online and is operating as normal. The Turing Scheme portal remains unavailable while we continue our investigation and remediation work. 

1. What happened?

We identified a security issue affecting two digital services: the Turing Scheme portal and the Customer Help Portal. Following identification of the issue, we took immediate steps to contain the incident and activated our incident response procedures to establish the facts and assess any potential impact.

As a precaution, both services were temporarily taken offline while investigations and remediation work were carried out. The Customer Help Portal has now been restored and is operating as normal. The Turing Scheme portal remains unavailable while further work continues.

2. When did the Department for Education become aware?

DfE became aware of the issue after claims appeared over the weekend of 25/26 July. Once aware, we invoked our incident response procedures to establish the facts and investigate what had happened.

3. What information may have been affected?

The data involved only relates to individuals that have directly contacted the Department by using the Customer Help Portal online, or by using the Turing Scheme portal.  No further data held by the Department is affected.

The following personal data is affected:

• Name
• Job Title (if provided)
• Email Address (if provided)
• Phone Number (if provided)
• Business Address – if you contacted the Department on behalf of an organisation

4.  What is DfE doing about this? 

Following identification of the issue, we temporarily took down both the Customer Help Portal and the Turing Scheme portal while investigations were undertaken. The underlying vulnerability has been identified, and remediation work has been carried out.

The Customer Help Portal has since been restored and is available for use. Work continues to restore the Turing Scheme portal. In line with data protection legislation, we submitted a notification of the breach to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Protecting customer information remains our highest priority.

We will continue to provide updates on this page as further information becomes available regarding the Turing Scheme portal. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank users for their patience and understanding while this work continues.

5. What should I be aware of and how can I protect my information?

There are ways you can help protect your information:

• Watch out for any suspicious emails, text messages and websites. There may be fake messages lurking amongst genuine ones that can be very difficult to spot. 
  You can find further information on the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) website.
• Use strong passwords to protect your accounts.  The ICO have a useful video

Data breach guidance for individuals