Pro-Russia hackers claim council cyber attacks

Pro-Russian hackers have claimed to have targeted several councils in a cyber attack.

A group named NoName057(16), pictured with a Russian flag in its profile, posted on X about its plans to target UK town halls, including in Greater Manchester.

It claimed to have hit the the Salford, Bury, Trafford and Tameside council websites this week with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, flooding the websites with internet traffic to put them out of use.

Salford, Bury and Trafford councils confirmed their web pages were temporarily affected by a cyber attack, but said they were now back online.

A National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) spokesperson said the organisation provided guidance to affected councils.

They told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Whilst DDoS attacks are relatively low in sophistication and impact, they can cause disruption by preventing legitimate users from accessing online services.”

Salford and Bury councils said residents were still able to access services in person and over the phone while their websites were out of use.

Trafford Council said personal data "remained secure throughout", adding: "We continue to remain vigilant and monitor for cyber threats.”

Tameside Council was also contacted for comment.

Councils in Greater Manchester also suffered a cyber attack in August when housing websites for Manchester, Salford and Bolton were hit in a phishing scam incident targeting thousands of people around the region.

Users were sent emails asking for personal data, with town halls warning people to check bank accounts for any suspicious activity, and change passwords which they had used to access the housing register.

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