Oxford City Council has confirmed it was the target of a cyberattack earlier this month, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive historical data, primarily affecting individuals who worked on council-administered elections over the past two decades. While the council’s automated security systems quickly detected and contained the breach, the incident caused service disruptions and underscores the growing cyber threats faced by local authorities.
The cyber intrusion was first detected over the weekend of June 7th and 8th, when an “unauthorised presence” was identified within the council’s network. According to a statement released by the council, their automated security systems immediately “kicked in, removed the presence and minimised the access the attackers had to our systems and databases.”
However, investigations have revealed that the attackers managed to access “historic data on legacy systems.” Specifically, the personal details of individuals who worked on Oxford City Council-administered elections between 2001 and 2022, including poll station workers and ballot counters, may have been compromised. The majority of these individuals are current or former council officers.
“There is no evidence to suggest that any of the accessed information has been shared with third parties,” the council stated, adding, “Investigations continue to identify as precisely as we can what was accessed and what, if anything, might have been taken out of our systems. There is no evidence of a mass download or extraction of data.”
Following the detection, the council swiftly engaged external cybersecurity specialists. As a precautionary measure to conduct comprehensive security checks and thoroughly investigate the incident, each of the council’s main systems was temporarily taken offline. This led to disruptions in some council services for about a week.
“These precautionary measures resulted in disruption to some of our services over the last week,” the council apologized, assuring residents that “most of our systems are now safely up and running again, and the remaining systems should be back online this week.” The council has confirmed that its email systems and wider digital services remain secure.
The council has begun the process of individually contacting all potentially affected individuals to explain what happened, outline available support, and detail the steps being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. The incident has also been reported to relevant government authorities and law enforcement agencies, with a full investigation ongoing.
Cybersecurity experts, including Sylvain Cortes, VP of Strategy at Hackuity, emphasized the increasing vulnerability of local authorities. “Local authorities remain high-value targets for cybercriminals,” Cortes stated, highlighting that rapid digitization and the sensitive nature of the data they hold create new points of vulnerability. This incident in Oxford is part of a broader trend, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reporting a significant increase in cyberattacks and personal data breaches affecting local government systems in the UK.
As local authorities continue to digitize services, this incident serves as a critical reminder for all organizations, particularly those holding sensitive public data, to reinforce their fundamental cybersecurity defenses against evolving threats.
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