Local residents are forced to put up with a new reality in which there is no place for digital amenities.
The authorities of the British city of Leicester, located in the county of Leicestershire, reported a serious cyber incident, due to which the city's control systems and critical telephone lines had to be temporarily disconnected.
The service disruption was first noticed on March 7, and the decision to temporarily disable it was made in order to prevent possible negative consequences.
Already on March 8, local authorities officially dubbed the problem as a "cyber incident", which often means attacks using malware, although there is no official confirmation of this fact yet.
Cybersecurity experts have expressed suspicions that a ransomware attack may be behind the breach, but so far none of the known ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the incident.
The Leicester authorities claim that they are working with information security specialists and law enforcement agencies to clarify the circumstances of the incident and restore the systems, with special attention being paid to critical services.
As a result of the attack, some online forms for reporting child protection and access to housing services were temporarily unavailable, and emergency phone numbers were set up as an alternative. Representatives of the city authorities apologize for the inconvenience and promise to minimize the impact on basic services.
Erke Boyten, professor of cybersecurity at De Montfort University in Leicester, stressed that such cyberattacks are not uncommon for municipalities, and their consequences can seriously complicate the daily operation of city services. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the Leicester City Council has a good reputation in the field of information management, which can minimize the damage from possible compromise.
By the way, the city of Leicester is not alone in facing such threats: over the past year, several other municipalities in the UK have already become victims of similar attacks.
Cyber incidents involving malware and ransomware always deal a serious blow to the work of city services and critical municipal systems, which directly affects the lives of citizens, creating all sorts of obstacles and inconveniences for accessing the daily city services that they rely on.
In addition to virtual attacks, physical attacks on network infrastructure, including cutting communication cables and damaging equipment, have recently become more frequent in the UK. Affected Internet service providers attribute the incident to simple vandalism, although it is possible that such attacks are carried out purposefully and with very specific malicious intent.
The authorities of the British city of Leicester, located in the county of Leicestershire, reported a serious cyber incident, due to which the city's control systems and critical telephone lines had to be temporarily disconnected.
The service disruption was first noticed on March 7, and the decision to temporarily disable it was made in order to prevent possible negative consequences.
Already on March 8, local authorities officially dubbed the problem as a "cyber incident", which often means attacks using malware, although there is no official confirmation of this fact yet.
Cybersecurity experts have expressed suspicions that a ransomware attack may be behind the breach, but so far none of the known ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the incident.
The Leicester authorities claim that they are working with information security specialists and law enforcement agencies to clarify the circumstances of the incident and restore the systems, with special attention being paid to critical services.
As a result of the attack, some online forms for reporting child protection and access to housing services were temporarily unavailable, and emergency phone numbers were set up as an alternative. Representatives of the city authorities apologize for the inconvenience and promise to minimize the impact on basic services.
Erke Boyten, professor of cybersecurity at De Montfort University in Leicester, stressed that such cyberattacks are not uncommon for municipalities, and their consequences can seriously complicate the daily operation of city services. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the Leicester City Council has a good reputation in the field of information management, which can minimize the damage from possible compromise.
By the way, the city of Leicester is not alone in facing such threats: over the past year, several other municipalities in the UK have already become victims of similar attacks.
Cyber incidents involving malware and ransomware always deal a serious blow to the work of city services and critical municipal systems, which directly affects the lives of citizens, creating all sorts of obstacles and inconveniences for accessing the daily city services that they rely on.
In addition to virtual attacks, physical attacks on network infrastructure, including cutting communication cables and damaging equipment, have recently become more frequent in the UK. Affected Internet service providers attribute the incident to simple vandalism, although it is possible that such attacks are carried out purposefully and with very specific malicious intent.
