NCSC statement on major global IT outage

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a statement on 19 July 2024 on the global IT outage that day, saying that affected organisations should put in place vendor mitigations and warning about an increase in related phishing¹. The statement was published as a news item headed "Statement on major IT outage"¹.

The NCSC describes phishing as the use of scam emails, text messages or phone calls to trick victims, often to make them visit a website which may download a virus or steal bank details or other personal information². It says criminals often exploit current news stories and big events to make a scam seem more relevant¹, and that they use information about people available online, including on social media, to make their messages more convincing¹.

The NCSC sets out signs it says scams often feature¹:

The NCSC advises that if a message or call makes someone suspicious, they should stop, break the contact and consider the language used¹. It says people should not use the numbers or address in the message but details from the organisation's official website, and that a bank or any other official source will never ask for personal information by email or call to confirm bank account details¹. If someone suspects a caller is not who they claim to be, the NCSC advises hanging up and contacting the organisation directly; official contact details are often printed on paper statements or credit cards¹. It also notes that criminals are increasingly using QR codes within phishing emails to direct users to scam websites¹.

On reporting, the NCSC says suspicious messages, calls or websites should be reported, and that reporting is free and takes only a minute². Suspicious emails can be forwarded to the NCSC, and suspicious websites submitted through its reporting form; it says people should not click links in a suspicious email or enter personal information on a suspicious website⁶. Most phone providers take part in a scheme allowing customers to report suspicious texts for free by forwarding them to 7726⁵. The NCSC says it has the power to investigate and take down scam email addresses and websites². Its published figures include 59.6 million reported scams as of September 2026, leading to 263.7 thousand scams removed across 466,300 URLs², 454.8 thousand scam URLs removed by the NCSC as of July 2026⁷, and 41.9 thousand scams removed across 93.3 thousand URLs as of September 2026 under the 7726 service⁵.

Why it matters for households

The warning concerns households whose contacts with organisations, banks and services may be mimicked by criminals using the outage as a hook. The NCSC says phishing messages can arrive by email, text, phone call or social media, pretending to be someone the recipient trusts⁴. Its advice covers checking a message through official contact details rather than those given in the message, and reporting suspicious messages, calls and websites¹. Where someone has shared information, the NCSC advises contacting the bank if banking details were given, changing passwords on any accounts using the same password, running a full antivirus scan if a link was opened or software installed, and telling an employer's IT department if the message arrived on a work laptop or phone⁴. It says anyone who has lost money should tell their bank and report it as a crime to Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland for Scotland⁴. The NCSC states that a crime should not be reported to it in this way⁶.

The NCSC's household guide to cyber attacks and major IT failures sets out how to prepare for disruption to online services, and its guide to how the NHS, government and regulators respond to a major incident explains how official responses are organised. Further material is in the cyber-attacks hub and the guide to the National Cyber Security Centre and the help it offers individuals and families.

What happens next

No further dated steps have been reported. The NCSC says it is unable to inform people of the outcome of its review of a report, but that it acts on every message received⁶.