The BBC’s payroll software supplier has been hit by a major data security breach, with BBC staff warned in a round robin email over the weekend that a “significant global technical issue” has affected parts of the payroll system by provided by Progress Software. The same breach has affected British Airways, as reported this afternoon. For some reason, the BBC hasn’t covered this on their own channel yet…

Staff were told over the weekend:

“We have been informed by our supplier IBM that their contractor, Zellis, has been affected by a vulnerability in the third-party software it uses (MOVEit Transfer, provided by Progress Software). This has led to a data breach affecting several organisations, including the BBC.

Zellis manage the payroll process for the BBC and therefore hold personal data about BBC employees and individuals engaged by the BBC on a PAYE basis. At this stage Zellis have confirmed they have no evidence that bank account details have been compromised.

The breach has been reported to the Information Commissioners Office and appears to be a significant global technical issue.”

While they claim there is “no evidence that bank account details have been compromised”, the BBC is warning employees “there is a risk that your data could be used for illegitimate purposes“, and everyone has been encouraged to change their passwords. Everyone who has been directly affected will soon be contacted…