A cyberattack has occurred on a UK cashless payments firm called Wisepay whose services are used by a Hitchin secondary school, it has emerged.

Hitchin Boys' School, which employs the Wisepay platform, notified parents of the attempt to steal money through its card payment page.

The Wisepay system allows parents and guardians to make cashless payments to schools and colleges across the county including our town's learning establishment on Grammar School Walk.

The company initially said that their website was down for 'maintenance', prompting concerns that pupils accounts could not be topped up for lunches or other items the school sells.

However, 'the outage' was a proactive decision to prevent the cyber attackers from capturing bank and credit card details from parents.

The company said it has informed the UK Information Commissioner's Office and is working with a 'cyber forensic agency' to investigate further.

In a letter to worried parents, seen by Nub News, the school, which is rated 'outstanding' by Ofstead, said: "Wisepay have engaged a leading cybersecurity forensic agency and they will be providing any required notifications of their investigation, together with specific details of affected transactions and individuals who attempted to make payments during this period.

"We understand the incident began to adversely affect the website on Friday, October 2, and was discovered on Monday, October 5 at which point it was reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

"They cannot at this stage give us any indication of when the issue might be resolved."

The school added: "It is important for us to make you aware of the potential risks and advise you to keep a watchful eye on your credit cards and bank statements for any unusual payments/activity also anything usual with your computer – for example any unexpected software installs or random unexplained pop ups on screen.

"As soon as we hear from Wisepay with any more specific information or advice we will of course be in touch with you."

If your son is a school canteen or POD user and requires funds on their account please contact the Finance Office on 01462 432181 option 7 and someone will assist you to obtain a temporary overdraft until the issue is resolved.

A parent at HBS spoke to Nub News on condition of anonymity saying: "It is worrying that something like this can happen. I will be studying my bank statements extremely carefully."