Portsmouth City Council Affected by Cyber Attack, Joining Other Local Authorities

Portsmouth City Council is the most recent local authority to experience a cyber attack. The unitary council reported its inclusion among entities targeted by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack attributed to a group identifying as NoName057(16). Pro-Russian hackers have asserted responsibility for these attacks, which have also impacted Salford and Middlesbrough, among other locations. Portsmouth stated that council services remained unaffected and residents’ data faced no risk. A statement published on the authority’s Facebook page read: “We can confirm that the Portsmouth City Council website is undergoing a cyber attack, which means you will experience issues when trying to use the site.” “Portsmouth is one of a number of local authorities across the UK to be affected by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack by a group named NoName057(16).” “No council services are affected by the attack, and user and residents’ data are not at risk, however, the website may be for an unknown period.” “We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience caused.” The council indicated that its teams continued to be available for queries during working hours, and residents could utilize online services and process payments via the MyPortsmouth website. Additional councils have also experienced cyber attacks this week. Salford, Bury, and Trafford councils verified that their websites were temporarily impacted but have since been restored online. Middlesbrough Council’s website was taken offline on Wednesday following the identification of an issue by its IT department. A spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) stated that the organization offered guidance to the impacted councils. The spokesperson informed the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Whilst DDoS attacks are relatively low in sophistication and impact, they can cause disruption by preventing legitimate users from accessing online services.”