Glasgow Council Services Disrupted by Major Supply Chain Breach
▼ Summary
– A security breach at a fourth-party supplier disrupted Glasgow City Council’s online services and may have led to customer data theft.
– The council isolated affected servers, causing service disruptions like planning applications, parking payments, and pension portal access.
– Authorities, including Police Scotland and the NCSC, are investigating, but it’s unclear if data was stolen.
– The council warns citizens to be cautious of unsolicited communications and confirms no financial systems were compromised.
– The incident may involve ransomware, with UK ransomware victims facing higher encryption rates and increased ransom demands in 2024.
Glasgow City Council has reported significant service disruptions following a cybersecurity breach affecting one of its key suppliers. The incident, discovered on June 19 by IT provider CGI, involved malicious activity on servers managed by a third-party vendor. As a precaution, the council isolated potentially compromised systems, leading to widespread outages across multiple digital services.
Residents currently face difficulties accessing essential online functions, including planning applications, penalty charge payments, school absence reporting, and certificate requests. Bin collection schedules, pension fund portals, and various council diaries are also temporarily unavailable. The council emphasized that while email systems remain secure, citizens should remain vigilant against phishing attempts posing as official communications.
Authorities, including Police Scotland, the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3), and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), are investigating the breach. Though no confirmed data theft has been identified, the council is operating under the assumption that customer information linked to affected web forms may have been exposed. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been notified as a precautionary measure.
Key services impacted include:
- Planning applications – Online access suspended
- Penalty charge notices – Payments and appeals unavailable
- Pensions portal – SPFOnline access blocked
- Registrar services – Appointment bookings halted
- Revenues and benefits – Callback scheduling disabled
Additional disruptions affect permits, complaints, FOI requests, taxi complaints, and pupil absence reporting. Notably, no financial systems or payment details were compromised, providing some reassurance amid the chaos.
While the council hasn’t confirmed the attack’s origin, the rapid server isolation and potential data exposure suggest ransomware or extortion tactics. Recent data reveals 70% of UK ransomware victims in 2023 experienced encryption, surpassing global averages. Exploited vulnerabilities remain the primary entry point, with ransom demands doubling in 2024.
Residents are urged to report suspicious contacts claiming to hold their data to Police Scotland. The council reiterated that legitimate emails will never request sensitive details like passwords or banking information. Updates on service restoration will follow as the investigation progresses.
(Source: InfoSecurity)
