A new report reveals that a Scottish council may have had “gaps” in their cybersecurity arrangements ahead of a sophisticated and significant cyber-attack.
Comhairle nan Eilan Siar faced a cyber-attack two years ago, which had an immediate impact on the council and nearly caused the complete loss of the council’s data.
The ransomware attack was carried out through malware installed on the council’s services, which was used to steal and encrypt vital data. The attack continues to “have a significant impact on its operations,” the Account Commission said.
The new report from the Account Commission reveals that, while Comhairle nan Eilean Siar did “escalate the issue appropriately” when it discovered the attack, there were “gaps in their cyber security, business continuity, and disaster recovery arrangements.”
While the report conceded that more robust controls may not have prevented the attack, “stronger controls may have helped to reduce its impact or improve the speed of detection and response.”
Currently, the council is still experiencing the consequences of the attack, and while progress has been made, key systems still need to be rebuilt.
The full cost of the attack has been estimated, but does not include the time burden on staff as well as the continued rebuild.
Recommended reading
As part of the review, the audit provided some recommendations that Comhairle and other public sector bodies should take heed of.
This includes reviewing IT infrastructure to ensure it is resilient and meets disaster recovery standards, cyber testing and disaster recovery exercises are conducted regularly, staff are trained regularly, and the capacity and capability of the IT teams match the IT department’s resilience needs.
This incident highlights the importance of robust cyber security safeguards,” the report concluded. “No organisation can fully mitigate the risk of the ever increasing threat and sophistication of a cyber-attack but it’s crucial that organisations are prepared.”
Related
