Shropshire hospital charity supporters put on alert after Beacon data breach

A Shropshire hospital charity has confirmed that sensitive data relating to donors, supporters, and community members has been included in a major national data breach.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Charity and community engagement teams has informed people that the data involved may include names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and details of membership and donations.

But the third party data breach did not involve bank or debit/credit card details because they are not kept in the platform, that charity stated.

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In common with hundreds of organisations across the country the charity uses a system called Beacon, which is supplied by a private company.

Anna Milanec, the group chief governance officer at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said it is “not currently aware of any misuse of our information.”

Milanic said: “We were informed by Beacon, which provides an online system for Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Charity and Community Engagement teams, that it had a data security breach.

“Beacon has engaged specialist cyber security experts to investigate the incident.

“Please note this incident is not specific to Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Charity, and Engagement team, and has potentially impacted hundreds of organisations who use the system.

“We are not currently aware of any misuse of our information.

“The incident does not affect any other systems of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).”

In an email sent to supporters on August 6 the charity said it was “sorry to be having to write this email.”

Beacon told the charity on Monday, August 3, that it had a data security incident.

Supporters have been urged to remain vigilant for suspicious emails, telephone calls, text messages or correspondence claiming to be from its organisation or any trusted third party.

“Never disclose passwords, verification codes or financial information in response to unsolicited requests,” the charity urges.

“We appreciate that this news may be concerning and we sincerely apologise for any worry or inconvenience this incident may cause. If the investigation identifies any further information that may affect you, we will provide an update as soon as possible.”