Vodafone had a section of its website hijacked on Thursday, as blogs were posted claiming the communications giant owed billions in tax.
UK Uncut managed to gain a password to Vodafone's World of Difference website, posting claims the firm owed 6 billion to the UK Government.
The campaign group called on the Government to take action, suggesting the funds could be used to support charities, which are having their budgets slashed.
The Vodafone World of Difference programme hands grants to people wanting to carry out charity work. One recipient, who blogged on the website, leaked their password to UK Uncut.
Photos and videos of UK Uncut's protests at Vodafone stores were posted alongside the blogs.
"Vodafone make a big deal out of their funding to charity, but their charitable giving pales into insignificance compared to the 6 billion they got away without paying in tax," one of the grant winners said.
"I work for a charity and understand how the government's brutal spending cuts will hit the poorest and most vulnerable."
Vodafone said it has no unpaid tax bill and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has labelled the 6 billion figure being used by protesters as an "urban myth."
The firm also noted it contributes over 700 million every year to the Exchequer.
However, last year the firm did agree to pay 1.25 billion in a tax settlement with HMRC.
The dispute was over controlled foreign companies tax and the case ended with the largest corporate tax settlement in UK history.
The communications giant also stressed the website was not hacked, as a number of reports had suggested.
Vodafone said there was no risk to World of Difference winners or to customers' personal data.
"The posts which appeared on two World of Difference winners' blogs were published as a result of an individual sharing log in details with a protest group, not as a result of a 'hack,'" a Vodafone spokesperson said.
"World of Difference winners are doing great things for charities up and down the country. It's very sad to see how low people will go to further spread misinformation and for the charitable programme to be used as a platform for this kind of protest."
-
Cloudflare is cracking down on AI web scrapersNews Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said AI companies have been "scraping content without limits" - now the company is cracking down.
-
Swiss government data published following supply chain attack – here’s what we know about the culpritsNews Radix, a non-profit organization in the health promotion sector, supplies a number of federal offices, whose data has apparently been accessed.
-
‘A huge national security risk’: Thousands of government laptops, tablets, and phones are missing and nowhere to be foundNews A freedom of information disclosure shows more than 2,000 government-issued phones, tablets, and laptops have been lost or stolen, prompting huge cybersecurity concerns.
-
The UK cybersecurity sector is worth over £13 billion, but experts say there’s huge untapped potential if it can overcome these hurdlesAnalysis A new report released by the DSIT revealed the UK’s cybersecurity sector generated £13.2 billion over the last year
-
"Thinly spread": Questions raised over UK government’s latest cyber funding schemeThe funding will go towards bolstering cyber skills, though some industry experts have questioned the size of the price tag
-
Kyndryl and Vodafone Business collaborate on new cyber security servicesNews The expanded partnership aims to help Vodafone customers meet their regulatory compliance requirements
-
Threat of cyber attacks to national security compared to that of chemical weaponsNews The UK government has raised the threat level posed by cyber attacks, deeming it greater on average than an event such as the Salisbury poisoning
-
2022 Public Sector Identity Index ReportWhitepaper UK Report
-
UK and Japan strike digital partnership to collaborate on IoT security, semiconductorsNews The two countries are also set to align their approaches to digital regulation to make it easier for companies to operate in each nation
-
Defra's legacy software problem 'threatens' UK gov cyber security until 2030News The department spends over two-thirds of its digital budget on maintaining the risky applications, with no plan in place for a fix within the decade
