Redcar and Cleveland Council Cyber Attack

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council ransomware attack knocks off online services.

03:59 20 February 2020

The cyber attack has left more than 135,000 residents without online public services for nearly a week. 

 

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has refused to provide any details of the incident but an online security expert said that it had all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, in which files are scrambled until a ransom is paid. 

 

A team of experts from the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been on site since the cyber-attack. 

 

The group said: "We are aware of a cyber-incident affecting Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

 

"This is an isolated incident and we are supporting the organisation and working with partners to understand its impact."

 

The leader of the council, Councillor Mary Lanigan, said: "Computers have been taken offline and systems are being rebuilt.

 

"We have a massive team here - including cyber-security experts - working around the clock flat out to get it fixed.

 

"They have to go through [IT systems] bit by bit to make sure everything is clean. A lot of our staff are not able to work without computers but they are coping quite well here. The main problem is that we have no email systems. so we have extra phone lines for residents."