Guardian confirms it was hit by ransomware attack

The Guardian has confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack in December and that the personal data of UK staff members has been accessed in the incident.

The Guardian said it had no reason to believe the personal data of readers and subscribers had been accessed. It is not believed that the personal data of Guardian US and Guardian Australia staff has been accessed either.

However, the message to staff said there had been no evidence of data being exposed online, so the risk of fraud is considered to be low.

The Guardian has been using external experts to gauge the extent of the attack and to recover its systems.

According to a government report last year, two in five UK businesses reported cyber security breaches or attacks in the previous 12 months.