Local Council Enhances Security Following Cyber Attack

A local council has implemented enhanced security protocols after being affected by a cyber attack, an incident that also impacted several other local government bodies. Portsmouth City Council, located in Hampshire, confirmed on Friday morning that it was one of the entities targeted by an attack attributed to a group identifying itself as NoName057(16). Pro-Russian hackers, who display a Russian flag as their cover photo on X, have taken responsibility for these attacks. The incident disrupted access to the council’s website for users; however, a council spokesman verified that no resident data was compromised, and the website was restored by Saturday. Portsmouth City Council had previously stated that it had experienced a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. A DDoS attack involves the use of numerous computers to inundate a website with excessive traffic, aiming to overwhelm its systems. This type of attack can either diminish the website’s functionality or render it entirely unreachable. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a government body that provides advice to organizations affected by cyber attacks, noted that it typically requires “time and money to analyse, defend and recover” from such incidents. The council reported that its teams remained available to address inquiries during business hours, and residents could still utilize online services and process payments via the MyPortsmouth website. Middlesbrough Council’s website was taken offline on Wednesday after its IT department detected an issue, indicating it was also targeted by the hackers. Additionally, Salford, Bury, and Trafford councils reported experiencing issues on Thursday. The NCSC confirmed it had offered guidance to the councils that were impacted. The NCSC has since been approached for additional comment, following reports of new attacks on UK websites on Sunday.