UK councils hit in DDoS attacks over past month.
The website of Middlesbrough Council has been the target of a cyber-attack for the second time in a week.
According to BBC News, the council’s website was hit by a DDoS attack on both Wednesday of last week, and on Sunday morning. At the time of writing, the website is operating normally again, and the council said no services were affected and no council or personal data was compromised.
The attack follows a series of attacks on councils, including Portsmouth, by DDoS attacks over the past fortnight.
David Critchley, regional director for the UK and Ireland at Armis, said: “These attacks not only incite public panic but also highlight cyber-criminals’ growing awareness of the outdated, and unmonitored infrastructure within local councils.
“Local authorities are typically among the less well-funded areas of the public sector, yet they are often the first port of call for citizens. This lack of funding, combined with their extensive outsourcing - such as contracting out essential services like bin collection - makes them particularly vulnerable to supply chain attacks. In fact, less than half of organisations claim to have complete visibility of all network-connected assets, creating significant security gaps.”
Written by
Dan Raywood
Senior Editor
SC Media UK
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.
Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.
