Magic Circle player suffered data breach earlier this month
Allen & Overy is remaining tight-lipped on whether it paid a ransom to hackers after a cyber-attack earlier this month.
The Magic Circle outfit had data stolen on 8 November by ransomware group LockBit, which claimed it would publish the material on 28 November if the undisclosed ransom fee was not paid.
The A&O listing was removed from the hackers’ website ahead of that deadline, prompting speculation that the ransom has been paid, or negotiations are in progress.
A&O declined to confirm the position, stating only that “what we can confirm is that we are working closely with forensic and other specialists to do everything we can to minimise impact to clients arising from this illegal cyber intrusion”.
At the time of the attack, a spokesperson for the firm stated that “the firm continues to operate normally with some disruption arising from steps taken to contain the incident. Our technical response team, working alongside an independent cybersecurity adviser, took immediate action to isolate and contain the incident.”
Whilst the incident only impacted “a small number of storage servers”, the firm noted client concers. “We appreciate that this is an important matter for our clients, and we take this very seriously. Keeping our clients’ data safe, secure, and confidential is an absolute priority.”