NCSC called in as London councils grapple with cyber attacks

"Several London councils have reported cyber attacks taking place over the last three days. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC), Hackney, Westminster City Council, and Hammersmith & Fulham councils are all believed to be experiencing issues, with some services affected. RBKC and Westminster share a number of IT services. "We know a number of systems are impacted across both organisations, including phone-lines," said Westminster City Council in a ."

""We are diverting more resources to manage this incident and monitor emails and phone lines, and the councils have invoked business continuity and emergency plans to ensure we are still delivering critical services to residents, focusing on supporting the most vulnerable." It said that mitigation measures were being put in place and that it was investigating the incident, but didn't yet know what had happened."

"According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Hackney has been hit too. Staff have reportedly been sent a memo saying: "We have received intelligence that multiple London councils have been targeted by cyber-attacks within the last 24-48 hours, with potential disruption to systems and services. "Your immediate co-operation is essential to protect the council and the data of our residents.""

Several London councils—RBKC, Westminster, Hackney and Hammersmith & Fulham—have reported cyber attacks over a three-day period that have affected some services. RBKC and Westminster share a number of IT services, and some shared services with Hammersmith & Fulham are believed to have been impacted. Councils have diverted resources, invoked business continuity and emergency plans, monitored emails and phone lines, and prioritized support for the most vulnerable residents. Mitigation measures were implemented and investigations are ongoing. Specialist cyber incident experts, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Information Commissioner’s Office have been engaged. Staff were warned to cooperate to protect council data.

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