In May 2021, Ardagh confirmed that it had experienced a cyberattack. In response, the company was forced to shut down some of its systems as a precautionary measure. Following the breach, Ardagh ““engaged leading industry specialists to conduct a forensic investigation” into the incident.
In October 2021, the company became aware that stolen data taken from its systems had been placed on the dark web. And, in February 2022, nine months after the security breach, Ardagh wrote to employees to warn them that their personal information might have been exposed in the attack.
The following employee data was accessed in the breach (although not every employee had the same information stolen and this might not be a comprehensive list):
This is a significant amount of personal information and the delay in notifying those affected means that employees were not given the chance to secure their personal data between then and now.
As information stolen in breaches is often used by cybercriminals, this delay means that Ardagh employees have been left vulnerable to cyber fraud and scams. Anyone who was employed by Ardagh at the time of the breach should now take immediate steps to protect themselves.
Keller Lenkner UK has launched an action to help those involved in the Ardagh data security failure claim compensation for any distress or financial losses experienced because of this breach. We strongly urge anyone affected to register with us.
Crucially, an employer cannot fire you or harm your career in any way if you make a claim. Ardagh would be breaking the law if it did so and it may be classed as discrimination.
IF YOU ARE AFFECTED BY THE ARDAGH DATA BREACH, CONTACT US TO MAKE A NO-WIN, NO-FEE COMPENSATION CLAIM.
Any Ardagh employee could be involved in this breach and must be vigilant to protect against further attacks.
If your data was compromised in this incident, it could be shared on the dark web. And, while Ardagh has informed its employees that the dark web is “only accessible by means of special software” and “unlikely to be accessible by the general public” this does not lessen the risk.
The dark web is commonly used by hackers to sell data to other criminals. Similar data breaches have resulted in fraud, blackmail, and identity theft, so Ardagh employees are at high risk of being targeted by cybercriminals.
Those affected by the incident could have a compensation claim.
REGISTER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE ARDAGH GROUP ACTION.
At Keller Lenkner UK, we have been contacted by many current and former Ardagh employees who want to make a compensation claim for the data privacy failure. If you are thinking about making an Ardagh data breach compensation claim, here’s what you need to know.
Why did it take Ardagh so long to warn employees that they could be at risk following its 2021 data breach?
Find out more about making a group action claim for compensation.
What does no-win, no-fee actually mean and are there really no costs if you appoint us?
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See our answers to the FAQs we get asked about the Ardagh data security incident.
In May 2021, Ardagh experienced a cyberattack. Following investigations, personal employee data extracted during this attack was found on the dark web.
The stolen information includes:
This might not be a comprehensive list.
If you were an Ardagh employee on (or potentially before) May 2021, you could be affected by this breach. Ardagh has a legal obligation to tell you if your information is compromised. However, it is not clear if Ardagh has told everyone affected by this breach.
Anyone who thinks they might be involved should take immediate steps to protect themselves. Our data protection lawyers have created a handy guide to help keep you safe.
Ardagh claims the delay was justified because, while it became aware in October 2021 that personal data had been placed on the dark web, it was only after further review that it became known to the business that employee data was implicated. We would question this justification.
Even if Ardagh did not know exactly what information had been stolen, it was aware that personal data was compromised. At that stage it should have contacted every single Ardagh employee to warn them that their data could be at risk and let them take steps to protect themselves from harm.
Despite some employees experiencing unusual activity (spam, phishing, etc.) since the breach, Ardagh is not taking responsibility and will not pay compensation without evidence to directly link such activity to the breach. At Keller Lenkner UK, our cyber investigators can help you uncover this evidence. We can also help you to claim compensation for any distress suffered because of the breach.
If Ardagh informs you that your data is involved in this breach, you can join our no-win, no-fee compensation claim. There are no costs to register and no obligation to proceed.
A group action claim is where a group of people – sometimes even thousands of people – have been affected by the same issue. Group action cases are also known as class actions, multi-claimant, or multi-party actions.
There are no costs to join a claim. However, if your claim is successful, you may have to pay a ‘success fee’. This fee is taken from the compensation awarded to you. At Keller Lenkner UK, our success fee is competitive, and we make sure you are fully informed about any potential costs before you officially join our action. If you lose, you won’t have to pay a penny.
While each case is judged on its own merits, there are some things we would typically look for when it comes to when claiming compensation following a data breach, cybercrime or other GDPR violation:
With stolen data, cybercriminals can make purchases using your bank and credit cards, apply for credit in your name, set up fraudulent bank accounts and access your existing online accounts.
GDPR failures, cybercrime and data breaches can have a significant impact on you, both mentally and physically. They can cause or exacerbate anxiety, stress and other psychological conditions.
Keller Lenkner UK has been shortlisted in three categories at the Modern Law Awards 2022. These categories are ‘Business Growth Award’, ‘Innovation of the Year’ and ‘Boutique Law Firm’. We have also been shortlisted for ‘Law Firm of the Year’ at the 2022 LexisNexis Legal Awards.
This follows our 2021 success where we were shortlisted in the ‘Independent Law Firm of the Year’ and ‘Strategic Legal Operations Team of the Year’ categories at The British Legal Awards, and the ‘Disputes Boutique Firm of the Year’ category at The Lawyer Awards.
