Cyber resilience and security ‘very much’ on PKC’s radar
Perth and Kinross Council is focused on addressing cyber resilience in light of recent cyber attacks.
PKC’s head of legal and governance services gave the assurance to councillors as they met last week at PKC’s scrutiny committee meeting on June 9.
The issue was raised as councillors scrutinised PKC’s draft Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21.
Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey asked what measures Perth and Kinross Council were taking to ensure cyber security.
He cited the“recent appalling cyber attack”on SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and on some schools in other local authorities.
The Labour councillor said these attacks “heightened the mind on those risks which may be as high as other physical security risks”and asked what changes were being made in light of these events.
PKC’s head of legal and governance services Lisa Simpson said it had been recognised as a corporate risk not just by PKC but by all authorities and public bodies.
Ms Simpson said:“In terms of cyber security most attacks actually happen because people click on links that they shouldn’t click on.
“We clearly are going to be pushing training around phishing, etc.
“But we also have another aspect to look at that as we operate in this environment we need to think about cyber resilience as well as cyber security attacks in terms of accessibility and availability.
“That has been recognised. We are working on that at a corporate and service team level.”
She said cyber security was“very much”on PKC’s radar and the whole organisation was focused on addressing it.