The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
40 million hacking attacks on council – every year
Huge rise as staff get special training
More than 40 million attempts to break into Aberdeen council’s computer systems have been fought off in the past year – but a dozen made it through the net.
A new report to the council’s audit committee reveals there had been a staggering number of “external cyber incident attempts” in the 12 months to June.
The 40,790,746 efforts made to circumvent security equates to more than 111,000 attempts a day to access potentially sensitive information and compromise council systems.
That is vastly in excess of the 18,089,194 attempts made in the year to June 2017.
The figures were last night described as “concerning” by the committee’s convener Stephen Flynn and “mindboggling” by Aberdeen South MP Ross Thomson, who said they illustrated how vigilant public bodies must be.
Of the 40.7m incidents recorded, almost a quarter were attempts to access or take over parts of council computer systems, while about 75% were phishing attempts, often classed as “spam”.
Twelve separate attempts were successful – with 10 being “phishing” attempts through which scammers attempt to gain sensitive information by pretending to be a legitimate query.
Hundreds of firms across the region are having to improve cyber security in light of new digital threats that can originate anywhere in the world.
Last June, more than £60,000 was pledged by Aberdeen City Council chiefs to replace and upgrade council computer systems, while part of the controversial restructuring of the council involves moving more services online in an attempt to save £125m in five years.
In January last year, the hacking group Team System DZ successfully breached security on the Aberdeen City Council site
They posted a cryptic page, which took over the entire website, and displayed the silhouette of a man in a cowboy hat above the message “security stupidity”.
Aberdeen City Council audit committee convener and SNP opposition group leader Stephen Flynn said: “The significant rise in the number of external cyber incidents is definitely a cause for concern, particularly when the council appears to be embracing a digital future.”
Aberdeen South MP Ross Thomson added: “The volume of cyber-attacks targeting Aberdeen City Council is mind-boggling.
“Clearly the council’s systems are proving robust, but this just shows how vigilant public bodies have to be in the digital age.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “Our IT service constantly strives to prevent any external attacks from damaging Aberdeen City Council’s systems.”