Nixon Williams hit by Cyber Security incident

[Lance]

Well. They are setting up freeagent and transferring all the data. No point moving until that has happened.

really????
That might take months. And assumes they still have your data. Get out now...

[d000hg]

You can move and they will still have to send your data to the new accountant. Who can then set it up in FA for you.

[eek]

The Register has an article on the hack - yes data was stolen and possibly a lot of it Optionis customer files dumped online by ransomware crooks • The Register

[Lance]

The Register has an article on the hack - yes data was stolen and possibly a lot of it Optionis customer files dumped online by ransomware crooks • The Register

I wonder if HMRC will get that data for a cheeky sniff that doesn't require opening an investigation.

[eek]

I wonder if HMRC will get that data for a cheeky sniff that doesn't require opening an investigation.

HMRC couldn't use it or act upon it so nope..

[Lance]

HMRC couldn't use it or act upon it so nope..

good point.
Government departments always rigidly follow the letter of the law.
And never would they try to change a law to act retrospectively in a manner that suits them either.

[agentzero]

As if it needed repeated, but

If you are with Parasol Group, Clearsky, Nixon Williams, FirstFreelance, SJD: GET OUT!

How do you get out? If you are using FreeAgent with them, log on to FreeAgent, message FreeAgent live support. The account belongs to you, so have the accounting access removed. Instruct them to do this, don't ask and go back and forwards. FreeAgent will oblige.

Pay for FreeAgent yourself or get one of the free packages, for example by having a Mettle business account. Link this to FreeAgent. Free FreeAgent while you find another accountant. Close the account by email to the accounting business and if you have already terminated service for poor service, in December last year or before, then remind them of this. Also ask to perform an erasure request to the extent that GDPR egulations allow. They have to keep some data for auditing.

[Lance]

As if it needed repeated, but

If you are with Parasol Group, Clearsky, Nixon Williams, FirstFreelance, SJD: GET OUT!

How do you get out? If you are using FreeAgent with them, log on to FreeAgent, message FreeAgent live support. The account belongs to you, so have the accounting access removed. Instruct them to do this, don't ask and go back and forwards. FreeAgent will oblige.

Pay for FreeAgent yourself or get one of the free packages, for example by having a Mettle business account. Link this to FreeAgent. Free FreeAgent while you find another accountant. Close the account by email to the accounting business and if you have already terminated service for poor service, in December last year or before, then remind them of this. Also ask to perform an erasure request to the extent that GDPR egulations allow. They have to keep some data for auditing.

they're not going to remove you under GDPR. As a current, or recently ex-customer, they have every right to retain your information.
Having said that they failed to retain it anyway.

I left them over 6 years ago so they have no legitimate reason to keep my, or my companies data, so I can ask them to remove my personal data under GDPR. I might cos they'll never be able to deal with it in 30 days given the sh1tshow they're trying to recover from.

[Flashback]

You can move and they will still have to send your data to the new accountant. Who can then set it up in FA for you.

Except what they send, is not all the detailed line by line transactional data that you have put in their online system.

FYI direct from the horses mouth:
The only information that is given if one moves to a new accountancy firm is the most recent accounts and corporation tax computation along with the trial balance and also the recent VAT returns. There is also other relevant information given but the breakdown/list of individual transactions isn't provided.

I do understand your point however, all I can advise is that you will have access via our online portal as you do now in order to view any you may need?

[PerfectStorm]

The Register has an article on the hack - yes data was stolen and possibly a lot of it Optionis customer files dumped online by ransomware crooks • The Register

Oh great.

Anyone been able to pull all the files down to check their exposure? I've tried but the server is taking a hammering.

At first sight: a lot of spreadsheets, PDFs, scans of passports... doesn't appear to be benign data in any sense.