The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, is issuing this alert to charities as regulatory advice under section 15(2) of the Charities Act 2011.

Charities could be at risk and are urged to be vigilant.

Over 200,000 organisations, including the National Health Service (NHS), in 150 countries have been affected by a recent ransomware attack. The vulnerabilities exploited by the hackers are the same for charities as they are for individuals, public or private sector organisations.