Tewkesbury Council continues to respond to a significant cyber attack

Tewkesbury Borough Council said it suffered a significant data security incident that affected frontline services and forced it to take several systems offline.

 

In a press release, Tewkesbury Borough Council said that on 4th September, it identified a data security incident affecting its internal network. The Council immediately took the affected systems offline and launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

The Council also notified the Information Commissioner’s Office, the National Cyber Security Centre and police about the cyber security incident.

 

It added that there is “no evidence of data leaving our systems as part of this incident.” “Some of our front-line services have been impacted by this incident and we appreciate your patience through this incident.

 

“Our waste and recycling collections, cemeteries and funeral services are unaffected. The leisure centre and other partners within the public service centre, are also operating normally,” reads the FAQ section of the data security incident notice.

 

Council officials have asked residents to not send any email at the council’s official email address and not open any attachment sent from the council.

 

The council’s chief executive, Alistair Cunningham, added that community hubs have been set up across the borough in Bishop’s Cleeve, Churchdown, Brockworth and Winchcombe. The council spokesperson could not give a timeframe for the services to return to normal. The council is yet to identify the perpetrator behind the cyber attack.

 

“The specialists are helping us. We’ve no idea whether it’s a state actor or an individual in their bedroom trying to [create] mischief,” Mr Cunningham told BBC.

 

At the time of writing, no hacker group has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on Tewkesbury Borough Council.