Deloitte has appointed Hogan Lovells to advise on a cyberattack that compromised the company's confidential emails, it has emerged.

It is understood that Deloitte hired Hogan Lovells earlier this year to review the cybersecurity incident. In a report yesterday (25 September), The Guardian said the Big Four accountancy firm brought in Hogan Lovells in late April on a "special assignment" to review the cybersecurity incident, which it had first discovered in March.

In a statement yesterday (25 September), Deloitte confirmed the attack. It said: "The attacker accessed data from an email platform. The review of that platform is complete." It added that "only very few clients were impacted" and "no disruption" has affected its client businesses, or Deloitte's ability to continue to serve clients or consumers.

In response to the attack, Deloitte's actions have included implementing "its comprehensive security protocol" and launching "an intensive and thorough review, which included mobilising a team of cybersecurity and confidentiality experts inside and outside of Deloitte".

The Guardian said that six of Deloitte's clients were affected, including household names as well as US government departments.

Last week, Hogan Lovells was instructed by cab hire app Uber on its appeal against Transport for London's (TfL) decision to reject its application for a new licence in London.

Earlier this year, Legal Week reported that DLA Piper was hit by a major cyberattack, which knocked out phones and computers across the firm.

The shutdown was caused by a ransomware attack, similar to the WannaCry attack that hit organisations such as the UK's National Health Service in May.