Portsmouth City Council heavily targeted by cyber hackers

Figures obtained by Big Brother Watch show that the council was attacked 463,000 times in the past five years.

Across the UK, councils have been subjected to more than 98 million cyber attacks in that time period. Seventy-five per cent of local authorities also don’t provide cyber security training for staff.

Investigative work by The News and Johnston Press last year highlighted how public sector services were being hit with cyber attacks.

Jennifer Krueckeberg, lead researcher at Big Brother Watch, said: ‘With councils hit by over 19 million cyber attacks every year, one would assume that they would be doing their utmost to protect citizens’ sensitive information. We are shocked to discover that the majority of councils’ data breaches go unreported and that staff often lack basic training.

‘Local authorities need to take urgent action and make sure they fulfil their responsibilities to protect citizens.’