ONE of the district’s most successful businesses fell victim to a cyber attack, it has been confirmed. 

Acorn Stairlifts, which is based in Steeton and has operations on a global scale, appeared to experience significant problems from the start of October as a result of the attack.

On October 6, the firm told customers: “Unfortunately we’re experiencing technical difficulties this morning which means all our systems and phone lines are currently down. Please bear with us while we do our utmost to get everything back up and running.”

Later that day, customers were told servers were still down due to “ongoing technical difficulties”.

In regular updates, the company confirmed it was still having problems, posting on Facebook on October 12 that it was “working as quickly as possible to get our systems back up and running”. 

On October 20, a post said: “Thankfully, our systems and phone lines are restoring to normal”. 

A spokesperson told the Telegraph & Argus: “Acorn Stairlifts can confirm that it was recently the victim of an attempted malware attack on its global computer systems.”

Malware is malicious software which, if able to run, can cause harm in many ways, for example causing a device to become locked or unusable; stealing, deleting or encrypting data; taking control of devices to attack other organisations; obtaining credentials which allow access to an organisation’s systems or services; ‘mining’ cryptocurrency and using services that may cost money, like premium rate phone calls.

While Acorn would not confirm whether personal data had been compromised and how many people had been affected, the spokesperson said: “We informed the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities at the earliest possible opportunity. The issue has now been resolved and our services are working normally.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office said: “People have the right to expect that organisations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly. If a person has concerns about how their data has been handled, they should raise it with the organisation first, then report them to us if they are not satisfied with the response. Acorn Mobility Services Ltd has made us aware of an incident and we will be assessing the information provided.”