What happened in the Fresca Group data breach?

The largest privately-owned supplier of fruit and vegetables in the UK, Fresca Group is a parent and holding company for a mix of wholly owned and joint venture trading businesses.   

The Fresca data breach – which happened after the company suffered a cyberattack earlier this year – could affect current and former employees.  

A letter from Fresca Group to affected employees states that the following information may have been compromised in the attack:

• Name, home address and telephone number
• Date of birth
• National Insurance number
• Ethnicity
• Health records
• Bank account number and sort code
• Copy of passport / driving licence

Fresca first spotted the cyberattack over the Easter weekend when it identified suspicious activity on its servers. After investigating the incident alongside external cyber-crime specialists, Fresca discovered that the attackers gained illegal access via a 3rd party portal into its system. 

Affected employees must be vigilant

A substantial amount of data stolen in the attack has now been published on the dark web. 

Victims of data breaches often become the target of cybercriminals and phishing attacks. Similar privacy violations have resulted in fraud, blackmail, financial and identity theft. As such, affected employees are at high risk.  

Our data protection experts strongly advise anyone involved in this breach to be vigilant and take necessary precautions.