UK electoral registers accessed by hackers in 2021, voters' data compromised

The UK’s Electoral Commission was targeted by a cyber attack in which its servers containing email, control systems and copies of electoral registers were accessed, it said in a statement Tuesday.

The registers held information such as the name and address of anyone in the UK who registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as those registered as overseas voters, the commission added.

Its systems were first accessed in August 2021, and the incident was detected in October 2022. “We have since worked with external security experts and the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate and secure our systems,” the Electoral Commission says in a tweet, adding it has also notified the Information Commissioner’s Office.