A BAE Systems retiree said the Capita pension cyber attack which meant that thousands of people had their personal data stolen has given him 'a lot of worry.' 

The retiree, who did not want to be named, wrote to this publication and said he had received a letter from Capita advising him that his data had been stolen.

"Capita have had a cyber-attack and lots of BAE personnel retired pension details like name, date of birth, NI number, bank details have been stolen," he said.

"This has put a lot of worry on retirees, of which I am one."

The letter, seen by The Mail, said: "We are writing because information about you has been accessed by an unauthorised party following a cyber incident at Capita. We strongly encourage you to consider taking advantage of the free 12-month service that is offered by Experian, a fraud and identity theft monitoring company."

In June certain holders of BAE pensions with outsourcing group Capita were told that their data was taken following a cyberattack that may have affected hundreds of UK companies. 

The trustee of BAE's pension fund said around 8,000 members of the BAE Systems Pension Scheme with Shipbuilding Industries Pension Scheme benefits had data stolen during the incident.

READ MORE: Thousands of BAE Systems pension holders have data stolen by hackers

BAE no longer works with Capita - although that decision was made before the cyberattack.

A spokesman from BAE said: "Up until 31 May 2023, Capita was the pension scheme administrator for members of the Shipbuilding Industries Pension Scheme (SIPS) which is a small section of the BAE Systems Pension Scheme.

"We’re proactively engaging with Capita in respect of its ongoing investigations into its recent cyber incident to ensure that all appropriate steps are being taken, and we’ve written to those members who are affected to advise on the support available to them.

"Those who have been contacted should follow the guidance included in the letter which sets out clearly what they should do. Members should be alert to suspicious messages and be vigilant in checking their online accounts for any unauthorised activity.

"Members should only ever give out personal information if they are absolutely sure they know who they are communicating with. We encourage members to sign up to a free 12-month ID protection service that is offered by Experian.

"There is also more information for people and some helpful Q&As available via our website https://www.baesystems.com/en-pensions/capita-cyber-incident."