Tech consultant calls for larger local government role in national IT security plan

An IT infrastructure provider has asked central government to increase local government presence when planning UK IT security policies.

IT consultant Socitm has requested more integration in security between central and local government, after a local authority was recently hit by a cyber attack.

Lincolnshire County Council was the victim of a hacking after a member of staff opened an email that contained ransomware. The council had to close parts of its computer system, which included library services. The shutdown lasted for almost for almost a week, resulting in  staff members having to resort to pens and paper in order to carry out their job. The system is now back in operation.

While the hacking only affected a small number of files that were isolated quickly by IT security staff, it led to a lengthy downtime, which saw daily operations affected.

Director of research and policy for Socitm, Martin Ferguson, told the trade press that while solutions exist, more effort still needs to be made. He said:

“Thankfully Lincolnshire’s experience is the exception rather than the norm. However, the ongoing threat from existing and new forms of malware and other forms of cyber-attack means that addressing these threats needs sustained focus.”

The council’s security team was able to resolve the situation but the hack could have been avoided in the first place. Through advertising more cyber security jobs, companies and organization should ensure they have someone in place to deal with any threats that manage to make their way through the system.