UK techies' union warns members after breach exposes sensitive personal details
(2025/10/10)
- Reference: 1760089280
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/10/10/prospect_union_breach/
- Source link:
UK trade union Prospect is notifying members of a breach that involved data such as sexual orientation and disabilities.
According to disclosure emails seen by The Register sent to union members who work as scientists, engineers, techies, and managers, the attack took place in June, yet members were only notified this week.
Members include professionals working at organizations such as [1]BT Group , the Met Office, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Siemens, Jacobs, the Ministry of Defence, the National Trust, and many more.
[2]
Prospect's message said personal data was "impacted" during the "incident." We asked the union for more information, including whether this meant the data was stolen, how many of its approximate 160,000 members were affected, and additional questions.
[3]
[4]
General secretary Mike Clancy wrote in the email to members: "In June 2025, Prospect experienced an IT security incident. There was no significant operational impact, and we continued to support members throughout. In the interests of transparency, we announced the incident on our website.
"On discovering the incident, we immediately took steps to protect our systems and engaged a team of external experts who are experienced in dealing with matters like this. Together with them, we have been investigating what happened, with any potential impact on members as a key priority. This investigation is ongoing."
[5]
The data potentially exposed includes:
Names
Contact details
Dates of birth
Ethnicities (if provided)
Sexual orientations (if provided)
Faith (if provided)
Disabilities (if provided)
Employers and job titles (if provided)
Bank account numbers and sort codes
Prospect did not specify how many members were affected. The exposed data varies by individual, depending on what information each member had provided to the union.
Clancy said Prospect worked with outside experts to remediate the attack and shore up its defenses, as well as informing the [6]Information Commissioner's Office .
"We are very sorry for any concern this may cause," he wrote. "We have no reason to believe that information relating to you or any Prospect members was specifically targeted and we have no evidence that it has been misused.
[7]Tech trade union confirms cyberattack behind IT, email outage
[8]Europol confirms incident following alleged auction of staff data
[9]Discord says 70,000 photo IDs compromised in customer service breach
[10]Criminals take Renault UK customer data for a joyride
"However, it is important to us that we tell you what has happened and provide support to mitigate any potential risk."
In a somewhat unusual move for UK breaches, but something far more typical of those in the US, Prospect is offering 12 months' worth of credit and identity monitoring to affected members through Experian. This offer expires after October 30, however, so members will need to move swiftly.
In the meantime, Prospect advised members to maintain vigilance for potential scams targeting them and to take steps to improve their own personal security.
[11]
These include ensuring passwords are strong and unique, enabling [12]MFA where available, regularly reviewing financial statements for any abnormal activity, and following other guidance provided by the [13]National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/bt_union_pay_dispute/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/ico_clearview_ai_tribunal/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/cwu_security_incident/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/13/europol_data_breach/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/discord_photo_ids_leaked/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/03/renault_uk_customer_data_breach/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/08/pacer_mfa_rollout/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/uks_cyber_agency_and_industry/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
According to disclosure emails seen by The Register sent to union members who work as scientists, engineers, techies, and managers, the attack took place in June, yet members were only notified this week.
Members include professionals working at organizations such as [1]BT Group , the Met Office, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Siemens, Jacobs, the Ministry of Defence, the National Trust, and many more.
[2]
Prospect's message said personal data was "impacted" during the "incident." We asked the union for more information, including whether this meant the data was stolen, how many of its approximate 160,000 members were affected, and additional questions.
[3]
[4]
General secretary Mike Clancy wrote in the email to members: "In June 2025, Prospect experienced an IT security incident. There was no significant operational impact, and we continued to support members throughout. In the interests of transparency, we announced the incident on our website.
"On discovering the incident, we immediately took steps to protect our systems and engaged a team of external experts who are experienced in dealing with matters like this. Together with them, we have been investigating what happened, with any potential impact on members as a key priority. This investigation is ongoing."
[5]
The data potentially exposed includes:
Names
Contact details
Dates of birth
Ethnicities (if provided)
Sexual orientations (if provided)
Faith (if provided)
Disabilities (if provided)
Employers and job titles (if provided)
Bank account numbers and sort codes
Prospect did not specify how many members were affected. The exposed data varies by individual, depending on what information each member had provided to the union.
Clancy said Prospect worked with outside experts to remediate the attack and shore up its defenses, as well as informing the [6]Information Commissioner's Office .
"We are very sorry for any concern this may cause," he wrote. "We have no reason to believe that information relating to you or any Prospect members was specifically targeted and we have no evidence that it has been misused.
[7]Tech trade union confirms cyberattack behind IT, email outage
[8]Europol confirms incident following alleged auction of staff data
[9]Discord says 70,000 photo IDs compromised in customer service breach
[10]Criminals take Renault UK customer data for a joyride
"However, it is important to us that we tell you what has happened and provide support to mitigate any potential risk."
In a somewhat unusual move for UK breaches, but something far more typical of those in the US, Prospect is offering 12 months' worth of credit and identity monitoring to affected members through Experian. This offer expires after October 30, however, so members will need to move swiftly.
In the meantime, Prospect advised members to maintain vigilance for potential scams targeting them and to take steps to improve their own personal security.
[11]
These include ensuring passwords are strong and unique, enabling [12]MFA where available, regularly reviewing financial statements for any abnormal activity, and following other guidance provided by the [13]National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/bt_union_pay_dispute/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/ico_clearview_ai_tribunal/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/cwu_security_incident/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/13/europol_data_breach/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/discord_photo_ids_leaked/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/03/renault_uk_customer_data_breach/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/cybersecuritymonth&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aOjZNoivXdVjOxp83XB9cwAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/08/pacer_mfa_rollout/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/uks_cyber_agency_and_industry/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/