Three major London councils—Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham—have confirmed they are victims of a coordinated cyberattack. The incident has taken critical IT systems and phone lines offline, disrupting public services for thousands of residents.
Business Impact
This attack highlights the vulnerability of local government infrastructure. The disruption of essential services (social care, housing, payments) erodes public trust and creates immediate operational chaos. Recovery is expected to take weeks, with significant costs for remediation and potential data loss.
Why It Happened
While the specific vector is under investigation, coordinated attacks on shared services often exploit vulnerabilities in managed service providers (MSPs) or shared software platforms used by multiple local authorities.
Recommended Executive Action
Public sector leaders must review their business continuity plans for a “total loss of IT” scenario. Ensure that shared service agreements include strict cybersecurity SLAs and that offline backups are available to restore critical citizen services quickly.
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