RNLI warns supporters of possible personal data breach
UK lifeboat charity RNLI has told supporters that hackers may have stolen their personal information from a third-party customer management system. The breach news comes as the charity faces weeks of harassment from far-right activists.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has warned its supporters, in a letter accompanying the autumn edition of its magazine, that their name, contact details and record of interactions with the charity may have been accessed by hackers. The data was held by Beacon CRM, a customer relationship management provider used by numerous UK and Irish charities.
Beacon CRM advised the RNLI and roughly 1,500 other affected charities to assume that data held within its systems had been taken during a cyber-attack in late July. A report published by the company said there was no evidence the attack specifically targeted Beacon or any individual client, and that the attacker had indicated the exfiltrated data would be deleted without being retained, sold or shared. The RNLI says there is currently no evidence that supporters' information has been published, shared or misused.
The disclosure comes amid an ongoing campaign of harassment against the RNLI by far-right activists opposed to the charity assisting people crossing the English Channel in small boats. A lifeboat station in Portsmouth was recently forced to close temporarily following unrest near a site where activists tried to block asylum seekers from coming ashore. In early September, protesters attempted to blockade a road as RNLI crews helped bring a boat carrying 120 asylum seekers to shore near Portsmouth, and several police officers were injured.
In the aftermath, lifeboat volunteers were branded traitors, and protests were held outside the RNLI's headquarters in Poole, where a museum was temporarily closed. The Portsmouth station removed its Facebook page, and volunteers nationwide were advised to consider not wearing branded clothing if they felt at risk. RNLI vice-president Sir Robin Knox-Johnston condemned the abuse directed at staff and volunteers as "frankly quite disgraceful." Despite calls to boycott donations, the charity reported a significant rise in fundraising afterwards. It noted that only 1.2% of its callouts last year — 109 of 9,058 — involved small boats in the Channel.
