A charity that runs a farmhouse where Robert Burns wrote some of his most famous works has warned members and donors to be vigilant after a major data breach. <\/p>\n
The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust is one of an estimated 1,500 charities that uses software provided by Beacon CRM which suffered a cyberattack at the end of July.<\/p>\n
The charity, which runs the Ellisland farm near Dumfries, has now written to supporters confirming that membership and contact details were stored on a database that was penetrated. <\/p>\n
In an email, it stressed that banking card details were not stored with Beacon CRM, but it warned that contact information could be used by scammers. <\/p>\n
It said: “We’re getting in touch to let you know about a cyber-security incident affecting Beacon, the company whose software we use to hold and manage contact information and membership details for people connected to Robert Burns Ellisland Trust. <\/p>\n
“This is not a failure of any of our security measures. The Beacon servers were attacked directly; this means that all organisations that use Beacon will be affected to some lesser or greater degree.”<\/p>\n
While emphasising that banking details were not stored on the database, it warned supporters to be vigilant for scammers attempting to impersonate the trust. <\/p>\n
The Burns charity is the latest to confirm it has been affected by the Beacon hack. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the Scottish Refugee Council said it had been hit, external<\/a> by the data leak, as has the Scottish Women’s Institutes, external<\/a>, homeless charity the Cyrenians, external<\/a> and the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, external<\/a>. <\/p>\n A Manchester HIV charity<\/a> has also been affected, as have Sheffield Hospitals Charity<\/a> and the English National Ballet<\/a> among others. <\/p>\n