BBNPA services are recovering from a cyber attack

The national park authority is slowly recovering from the incident which took place over the weekend of September 12 and 13.

Due to the problems being experienced a meeting of the authority as well as the planning access and rights of way committee, which were scheduled for this week have had to be postponed.

A spokesman for BBNPA said that these meetings, “will be rearranged as soon as possible.”

BBNPA Chief Executive, Julian Atkins said: “We have seen from media reports recently that a wide range organisations are experiencing these types of incidents and they have become more common during the current pandemic.

“We regret that our services have been affected but our recovery procedures are working well and we are working closely with Dyfed Powys Police to investigate the incident.

“Please bear with us as we bring our services back online.”

BBNPA have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the incident left them without IT services for a number of days.

They have now re-established e-mail communications and are asking anyone who has tried to contact the the authority from September 9 onwards, “to please send their e-mail again if they have not had a response.”

A BBNPA spokesman said: “The incident has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office but we have no reason to believe that the personal data of people using the authority’s services has been accessed or downloaded for subsequent misuse. ”

“Our website supporting the enjoyment of the National Park has not been affected and businesses and visitors can continue to access information on visiting the National Park and supporting local businesses at www.breconbeacons.org

They now urge people who want to contact them to phone their reception team with all enquiries on 07973 781 479 or 07973 781 510.

A spokesman for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “We have been made aware of a cyber-attack and are working with Brecon Beacons National Park to support them in their recovery work.”

The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third of the three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast in 1952.

The park stretches from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the northeast and Pontypool in the southeast, covering 519 square miles.

BBNPA is a special purpose local authority with wide-ranging responsibilities for the conservation and enhancement, and in particular exercises planning functions across the designated area of the park.

The park extends across the southern part of Powys, the northwestern part of Monmouthshire and parts of eastern Carmarthenshire.

It also includes the northernmost Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent together with very small parts of Caerphilly and Torfaen.