Russia-linked cyber attack could cost Gloucester City Council £1m

Gloucester City Council had to rebuild all of its servers after the cyber attack

A cyber attack linked to Russian hackers could cost the council £1m to fix, leaders have warned.

Benefit payments, planning applications and house sales were delayed after Gloucester City Council's IT systems were compromised in December.

The city authority had to rebuild all of its servers after malware infected its systems.

Officers have been working to restore services but costs keep rising, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The harmful software was embedded in an email which had been sent to a council officer.

Known as sleeper malware, it is understood to have been dormant for some time before it was activated.

The cyber attack has already cost the council £787,000

Following the attack, Gloucester City Council said its sources alleged the cyber attack was carried out by hackers from Russia.

Liberal Democrat group leader Jeremy Hilton asked councillors on 29 September how much it had cost so far to restore the IT systems and what the estimated final bill would be.

"Every time I ask the question about the costs of the cyber attack recovery, the cost rises more and more.

"It now stands at a whopping £787,000.

"Can you reassure members of the council that the final bill will not be more than £1m?"

Deputy leader of the council Hanna Norman (Cons) told the meeting she could not give that assurance.

She said all parties involved in the recovery were doing it in the most cost effective manner because they were spending Gloucester taxpayers' money.

"I can give you the assurance that every penny we spend is scrutinised and we are making decisions based on value for money and what is right operationally for this authority and therefore Gloucester residents."

She confirmed the council had spent £787,000 spent to date, of which £142,000 went on capital works.