The outsourcing giant Capita’s computer systems have suddenly stopped functioning, knocking out council phone lines and raising concerns that the firm, which manages vital operations for the NHS and the military, maybe under cyber attack, Entrepreneurng report.
Capita employees have reportedly been unable to access IT systems since early Friday morning, albeit the cause has not yet been determined by a preliminary examination.
The outage highlights how vulnerable essential public services are to cyberattacks, as well as the growing importance of outsourcing firms in providing those services.
With £6.5 billion in public sector contracts ranging from managing London’s congestion charge system to hiring soldiers for the army, Capita is one of the government’s largest suppliers.
We are aware of a technical issue with our systems, which we are looking into, said a corporate spokesperson who was unable to access their email.
We would like to reassure any customers whose services have been impacted that we are making good progress and working closely with our technical partners to swiftly resolve the issues, a Capita spokesperson said in a later statement, released on Friday evening.
The London boroughs of Barnet, Barking & Dagenham, and South Oxfordshire are among Capita’s clients. On Friday, notices on their websites stated that the phone lines for the call centers for their business rates, council tax, and benefits were down.
Moreover, Capita boasts a cybersecurity division that prevents 1 million spam emails from reaching school networks annually.
Given the organization’s involvement in sensitive areas like Royal Navy training facilities and security at Ministry of Defense bases, a source familiar with the outage claimed that the National Cyber Security Centre, the Cabinet Office, and other governmental organizations had been made aware of the incident.
According to the source, people have resorted to employing radios, pens, and paper at locations that include crucial national infrastructure.
The company stated that its investigation was in its early stages and that it was too soon to determine whether the failure was brought on by a cyber-attack. Nevertheless, some employees still have access to computers and email.
A source close to the company said Capita was still unsure whether hackers were responsible for the downtime on Friday afternoon but that there is currently no proof of a data breach. The Office365 program suite, which includes email, Teams virtual meetings, Word, and Excel, is the main target of the issue, but client systems appear to be unaffected.
Sources at Capita claim that although the company’s systems failed at 4 am, many employees were unaware of it until they attempted to log in at 7 am. At 8:45 am, the corporation sent out a message to its staff informing them of an issue that affected the entire organization.
Unnamed staff members reported having trouble logging into their laptops since their usual password was being rejected as “incorrect.” This personnel was unable to use any computer programs or Capita’s systems.
The following text message was sent to the staff: “We are urgently looking into this and will be sending you an update shortly. Please refrain from using a VPN or requesting password recovery.
As Capita, which employs more than 50,000 people in the UK, is one of the government’s most crucial suppliers, the outage, which was originally reported by the Times, raised concerns within the UK government.
The British government is its primary client, and its public service sector posted revenues of £1.4 billion last year, solidifying its position as a vital provider at the center of the government’s initiatives to enhance digital services.
The Department for Work and Pensions, which has outsourced most of its business to it, primarily on its services for assessing disability payments.
The business has £1.9 billion worth of contracts with the Ministry of Defence, including ones for fire and rescue services, maintenance at the UK’s submarine training center, and recruitment for the British army.
Capita also manages Transport for London’s road-charging system, which includes the congestion charge and ultra-low emissions zone, as well as primary care support services for the NHS, electronic tagging for the jail system, and probation service. In addition to having a £456 million deal with the BBC to collect the license fee, it has a contract with HM Revenue and Customs to automate parts of the tax collection authority’s processes.
According to the data research company Global Data, TfL, which was Capita’s largest public sector client in 2021–22 with a spend of £140 million, claimed that none of its services had been impacted.
According to Global Data, Capita received £465 million from the public last year, making it the third-largest supplier to the UK’s public sector.
At this time, it is thought that the impact on government services will be limited.
 “We are aware of an incident affecting various Capita systems and we are in continuous touch with the company as they continue to examine the matter,” a representative for the Cabinet Office said.
Private clients served by Capita’s call centers include Thames Water, William Hill, BMW, and O2.
Employees who were already logged in could continue using the Capita program, according to a source at one company that uses it for human resources and financial operations, but those attempting to log in were unable to access their accounts.
Insiders believe that certain clients employ their ringfenced technology systems, which should shield them from any effects.
“The company in charge of the nation’s smart energy meters, Smart DCC, a division of Capita, stated: “The national secure smart meter network is running regularly, and is unaffected by IT concerns that have been reported.”
Conclusion
Interserve, a competitor of Capita, was penalized £4.4 million for failing to stop a cyberattack in 2017. It is not yet known if hackers are to blame for Capita’s problems. It is not yet known if hackers are to blame for Capita’s problems.
“We are aware of an incident affecting various Capita systems and we are in continuous touch with the company as they continue to examine the matter,” a representative for the Cabinet Office said.”
Source: The GuardianÂ
