Court cases delayed after police forensics firm hit by cyberattack

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Court cases and criminal investigations are being delayed because of a cyberattack on a firm that carries out forensic testing for British police forces. Assistant Chief Constable Paul Gibson, the police body’s national lead for the forensic marketplace, said: “We will continue to monitor and assess the impact on the marketplace, but the backlogs held by forces will be cleared over the weeks to come as we start to gradually restore capacity. “This will regrettably mean some delays to both investigations and court cases, but I want to assure the public we will continue to work diligently to mitigate the impact upon the criminal justice system and try to ensure that samples can be processed as quickly as the system allows.” Mr Gibson said restrictions had been imposed to protect the integrity of the British criminal justice system. British security minister: North Korea was behind WannaCry hack on NHS “Eurofins profoundly apologises to the customers of those of its laboratories and sites that have been impacted by the consequences of this sophisticated attack.” The attack came almost exactly two years after the WannaCry ransomware outbreak infected up to 70,000 NHS devices, causing chaos in hospitals and forcing ambulances to be diverted.