Hackney Council still addressing 2020 cyber attack

Hackney Council has bought a new housing management system - technology that supports local authorities manage housing - as it tries to address the damage from a cyber attack four years ago.

In December, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked the council for an update on a new solution it had announced in August 2023, which was to help address the ongoing fallout from the data breach.

The council's IT department confirmed to the LDRS a new contract was signed on 17 December and would be implemented in January.

The team said: "This follows a thorough review of available options, and negotiations to secure the best value for money for Hackney."

The October 2020 cyber attack left a lasting impact on services during a housing crisis which, according to the LDRS, has seen the borough confront one of the longest waiting lists in the capital - 20.6 years.

In July 2024, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the local authority was not without blame, criticising it for failing to effectively implement sufficient measures to protect its systems from attack..

Stephen Bonner, the deputy commissioner at the regulator, said the breach was a "clear and avoidable error" by the council.

He pointed to "simple mistakes like having dormant accounts where the username and password are the same".

At the time, the council said it did not accept the ICO's findings and that it had not violated its security obligations.

In December, the LDRS reported that the local authority had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds more than planned in dealing with the aftermath of the hack.

The council's accounts showed that £344,000 went towards hiring more agency staff, partly to manage a backlog caused by the attack, with a further £413,000 being spent on IT consultants with cybersecurity knowledge.

The council said it hoped the new system would help, as they said housing services remained under significant pressure and demand for temporary accommodation was pushing up its budget overspend.

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