The fallout from a data breach at the Legal Aid Agency continued as it emerged that a key portal for solicitors to submit and update applications would remain offline for longer than expected.
Firms were informed firstly by the LAA about the security incident and were told in a second letter that the LAA Online Portal, which was taken offline as part of work to protect information, would remain offline until 12 May. The portal provides access to the LAA's core applications.
In a statement on the afternoon of 12 May, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'The Legal Aid Agency portal is now online.
'We have already taken action to bolster the security of the system and are working with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre to investigate what other action is needed.'
The initial letter, signed by Lucy Jones, head of LAA Corporate Services, was posted by the account CrimeLineLaw on social media platform X. The letter stated: ‘We wrote to you last Wednesday following the identification of a security breach of the LAA systems. This remains a live investigation and a number of actions have been and continue to be taken to bolster the security of our systems, and in doing so protect the information contained within them.’
The LAA Online Portal was taken offline ‘to enable further work to be undertaken’, Jones said.
Jones had said: ‘As the portal is currently unavailable, we are aware that you are currently unable to gain a date stamp for your applications. When the portal becomes available, please complete the application as normal and indicate in the “Further Information” section of your application you were unable to submit your application and the date that you would have submitted it. Caseworkers will backdate representation orders to this date where applicable.’
Those with civil applications and an imminent hearing, who are unable to use delegated functions, were told to contact customer services.
Jones said: ‘I would like to again apologise for the inconvenience that the current situation, including the portal unavailability, will be causing you. The LAA takes any breach extremely seriously and understands the potential impacts on our providers including the impacts of taking our systems offline.’
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