Cyber security at Wolverhampton Council ‘vital’ after attack stopped
The dangers of cyber attacks have been discussed by a council that was able to defend itself against a potential attack earlier this year.
The meeting explored how the City of Wolverhampton Council is protecting its computer systems from major viruses after the NHS was targeted by malware in May this year.
At a meeting of the council’s Audit and Risk Committee held on July 3, the council revealed how it is working to defend itself against the threats.
The council received a cyber security report briefing from the head of ICT which revealed how the authority is bracing itself on the ‘ever increasing risk we face from cyber attacks’.
Councillor Craig Collingswood, Labour councillor for Park ward who chairs the meeting, said it was vital to protect personal data and to ensure a robust system is in place for the future.
Councillor Collingswood said: “It was explained how the council had successfully protected itself from the recent international WannaCry cyber attack that impacted upon, amongst others, large parts of the NHS.
“I think it’s vitally important that we defend ourselves against the threat and protect the people of Wolverhampton’s data from being stolen or getting into the wrong hands.
“We were successfully able to defend ourselves against the potential attack earlier this year, and we will continue to make sure that the systems we have in place protect our data.”
Defensive measures taken by the council saw it immediately review the health and status of the network, switch on advanced threat protection on firewalls to defend against sophisticated malware or attacks targeting sensitive data.
It also checked embedded links on inbound emails and undertook a full anti-virus scan of the entire council network.
