London’s Hackney Council says some services may be slow or unavailable as it researches a cyberattack affecting services and IT systems.
The London Borough of Hackney has reported that a serious cyberattack has affected many of its services and IT systems.
Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville says Council officers are working with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), external experts, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to investigate and understand the full effects of this incident.
“This investigation is at an early stage, and limited information is currently available,” Glanville writes in a statement. “We will continue to provide updates as our investigation progresses.”
The current focus, he says, is on delivering essential frontline services, especially to vulnerable residents, and protecting data while restoring affected services as soon as possible. In the meantime, some Council services may be unavailable or slower than usual, and its call center is “extremely busy.” The Council website will be updated as more information is available, he adds.
“Local and national councils will always be a target for cybercriminals given the sensitive data they hold, but the truth of the matter is that many remain unprepared for a cyberattack,” says Dean Ferrando, systems engineer manager for EMEA at Tripwire. “It’s difficult to prepare for something you don’t understand, can’t visualize, and haven’t experienced.”
He advises organizations conduct continuous assessments of configuration and vulnerability risk across IT systems, and ensure systems are regularly patched and updated, to ensure they’re secure and the attackers’ job is more difficult.
Read Hackney Council’s full statement here.
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