{
  "id": 17093322,
  "title": "Suspected data breach of employment permit online system",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/suspected-data-breach-of-employment-permit-online-system",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-29T16:54:14.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RTE News",
    "slug": "rte-news",
    "url": "https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/1029/1597264-data-breach-employment-permit/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An investigation is underway into a potential data breach affecting the Employment Permit Online System managed by the Department of Enterprise. The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has been made aware of the incident and is currently evaluating a notification received regarding the breach. The Department of Enterprise has been requested for comment on the matter.\n\nMeanwhile, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) declined to comment on operational issues when asked about the suspected breach. The Employment Permit Online System website displays a notice informing users that the service is temporarily inactive and anticipates resuming operation on Tuesday, November 3rd.\n\nThe notice clarifies that submissions made prior to the outage will continue to be processed, and decisions will be issued as usual. The Department reassures applicants that future submissions will not be adversely affected by the temporary outage. Information saved in draft, applications awaiting fee payment, and other data stored on the system will remain accessible once the portal goes back online, including applications that may extend beyond the typical 28-day submission timeframe during the incident. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment expresses sincere apologies for the unscheduled downtime and any inconvenience experienced by users.",
  "summary": "A suspected data breach is being investigated involving the Employment Permit Online System operated by the Department of Enterprise.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}