Walsall-based construction firm hit by cyber attack

A West Midlands construction business has admitted that it fell victim to a cyber attack just months after its parent company saw the personal details 100,000 employees stolen in a security breach.

RMD Kwikform, based in Walsall near Birmingham, confirmed that it was hit by the attack in November. The engineering services provider, which employs 1,400 people globally, said it is cooperating with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Strategic Incident Response teams in order to “investigate, contain and remedy the situation”.

An RMD Kwikform spokesman told IT Pro that the company had also notified the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) about the cyber attack.

“We will provide further updates when appropriate. RMD Kwikform’s employees, former employees, clients and suppliers are requested to exercise heightened vigilance during this time,” the spokesman added.

According to the company’s press officer, the incident was “very limited in its nature and has not impacted the wider Group”.

RMD Kwikform, which has worked on projects including the Tate Modern, Birmingham New Street Station, as well as various constructions in Qatar and Hong Kong, is part of the multinational group of UK-based construction companies called Interserve. In May this year, the parent company was involved in a cyber attack which saw the details of up to 100,000 employees stolen.

Interserve, which helped construct Birmingham's NHS Nightingale hospital, had its human resources database broken into during the weekend of 9-10 May. A source from within the company admitted that hackers managed to break into a human resources database which potentially “included sensitive data such as employee names, addresses, bank details, payroll information, next of kin details, HR records, dates of absences and pension information”.

Last month, the NCSC released new data regarding its work over the last year and warned of a surge in pandemic-related cyber attacks. The organisation said it handled 723 incidents between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020, a slight increase from the 658 reported in the year prior.