Councillor airs fears of Russian cyber attack on local authorities

'WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL THAT WE HAVE MEANS TO DEFEND OURSELVES'

- By DANIEL HODGSON

A COUNCILLOR has voiced his concern about a Russian cyber attack hitting Middlesbrough and other local authorities.

Coulby Newham Labour councillor David Branson raised the worry at a meeting of the council’s audit committee as he highlighted the need to be prepared for such an event.

Cllr Branson was asking a question in relation to an annual risk report which was being presented to the committee.

He was particularly curious about cyber security, a topic about which he said there had been an interesting programme on TV regarding a previous attack on Redcar & Cleveland Council.

He said: “One thing that seems to be fairly clear from these cyber attacks is they are being directed by the Russian state. This is not simply ransomware stuff, this is, I think, much more serious.

“One thing that was very clear from that programme is that the local authority simply did not have the resources to tackle the problem.”