Westminster Council computer system hit by cyber attack

Westminster City Council has confirmed it is one of three local authorities in London hit by a major cyber attack on its shared commuter system, as GCHQ’s security centre confirmed it is assessing the breach.

Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster City Council said they are dealing with a “cyber security issue”, and have been impacted by the attack. All three councils share a number of IT systems and services under a tri-borough arrangement.

The councils are working with cyber incident experts and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and are focusing on protecting systems and data, restoring systems and maintaining critical services to the public.

The incident was identified on the morning of Monday 24 November.

In a statement on its website Westminster Council said it “continues to comprehensively respond to the cyber security incident identified on Monday” and that “precautionary and coordinated work has been taking place” to isolate and protect its systems.

“Council services are running, although there is some ongoing disruption. We know a number of systems remain impacted and our focus is to ensure we are still delivering critical services to residents, focusing on supporting the most vulnerable.

“We apologise to residents for any inconvenience and thank them for being flexible and understanding. People may still see some delays in responses and the services we provide over the coming days.

“We continue to work with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham who have all been affected as well as relevant partner agencies.”

An NCSC spokesperson said the body is aware of an incident affecting some local authority services in London and is working to understand any potential impact.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Met Police received a referral from Action Fraud on Monday, 24 November, following reports of a suspected cyber-attack against borough councils in London. Enquiries remain in the early stages within the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit. No arrests have been made.”

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