The Australian registered charity Way Forward has disclosed that its payment systems have been suspended following a third-party cyber incident.
“We have become aware of a cyber incident relating to an external provider we use for our customer management platform,” the charity said in a September 9 statement.
“The external provider’s investigation is ongoing, and we are working to understand the nature of the incident and any impact on information held on our customer management platform. As a precaution, we have notified our clients of the incident and provided guidance on staying alert to unexpected communications.
“As payment arrangements are initiated and managed through the affected system, this function is currently unavailable. This means we are temporarily unable to process our clients’ usual payments.”
Way Forward said that creditors and active clients should refer to the charity’s email communications “regarding how we are managing client payments until usual arrangements can resume”.
“We sincerely apologise for any concern this incident has caused,” Way Forward said.
“If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us on 1300 045 502 or [email protected].”
The company, on its Contact page, also said its ‘online eligibility tool’ is unavailable.
“Our system is currently down. Please check back soon.”
A spokesperson for Way Forward was able to provide an update one the progress of its response and investigation.
"The external provider's initial analysis indicates that the information impacted relates mostly to the provider's own company," the spokesperson told Cyber Daily.
"This is an early assessment by the external provider, based on its investigation to date. The external provider is continuing to work to validate this current assessment, and it may be subject to change."
Clients have been alerted, and, in addition, Way Forward has asked the creditors it works with "to implement a temporary payment moratorium" to ensure the charity's client credit reports remain unaffected.
"We are committed to keeping our clients informed and we will notify individuals directly in line with our legal obligations if our investigation identifies that their personal information has been impacted."
Who is Way Forward?
Way Forward is a not-for-profit organisation that provides assistance to individuals experiencing financial hardship.
“The people we assist have multiple debts with different creditors and are struggling to keep up with repayments. Juggling several accounts, due dates and collection activity can quickly become overwhelming,” the charity says on its website.
“Our service focuses on creating one affordable repayment plan that works within a realistic household budget.”
The charity is supported by Australia’s major banks, which provided seed funding for Way Forward in 2018. Several community service organisations also have close links to the organisation.
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