Confidential data belonging to a Scottish housing charity has been leaked on the dark web after a cyber attack by a criminal gang believed to have links to Russia.

Albyn Housing Society, which manages nearly 4,000 properties in 70 communities across the Scottish Highlands, reported a “systems outage” on its website on 16 August.

But the charity posted an update on 30 August, confirming it had suffered a “cyber attack whereby a criminal gang has illegally accessed our systems”.

The charity’s statement said its systems had been restored but there was a “possibility” that some tenants’ data had been extracted from its systems. It added that it had notified the relevant authorities and was being assisted by specialists to gain a “comprehensive picture” of the situation.

According to The Times newspaper, the information was leaked on a part of the internet that is accessible through specialist web browsers, by a ransomware gang which security experts believe to have Russian or Russian-speaking leaders. 

The gang, Ransomhub, published details of the attack on August 17, a day after the charity reported its “system outage”. 

The charity has not confirmed details of the leaked files, but according to reports in The Times the information amounted to 10 gigabytes of data. The leaked files included staff data such as payroll and expenses claims and personally identifiable information about tenants, reports said.

Kirsty Morrison, chief executive of Albyn Housing Society, said: “Albyn Housing Society has been subject to a criminal cyber attack in which our data systems were illegally accessed by a criminal threat actor.

“As soon as we became aware of this, we have been working round the clock to minimise the potential impact of this, and working with all relevant agencies and any stakeholders affected.  

“It is devastating that a charity whose main focus and purpose is to maintain and build homes, and support communities and individuals, has been targeted in this manner.”

Police Scotland confirmed that it was assisting the charity, with a spokesperson saying: “On Monday, 19 August, 2024, we received a report of a cyber incident having impacted a business premises in Invergordon. 

“Enquiries are at an early stage and we are providing support to those affected.”