Multiple London councils 'hit by cyber-attacks'

"Hackney Council said it had raised its cyber security threat to "critical" and urged staff to help protect residents' data, while Westminster City Council said people were struggling to contact the authority. The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment. An RBKC spokesperson said it was investigating the cause, along with Westminster City Council. Hackney Council staff have been sent an urgent memo warning them against phishing attacks, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)."

"RBKC wrote on X to say it was experiencing a "serious IT issue" that was making it difficult to people to contact it. The LDRS says some systems at RBKC have been down for two to three days, according to some sources. The RBKC spokesperson said the authority was working with Westminster City Council and cyber specialists to "protect data and restore services"."

Several London councils — the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Hackney, Westminster, and Hammersmith & Fulham — experienced suspected cyber-attacks within the past 24–48 hours, causing IT system failures and disruption to services. Hackney raised its cyber security threat level to "critical" and issued urgent staff warnings about phishing to protect residents' data. Westminster shut down all networks as a precaution, activated business continuity arrangements, and deployed senior managers to support services amid contact difficulties. RBKC reported a "serious IT issue", said some systems had been down for days, and stated it was working with Westminster and cyber specialists to protect data and restore services. The Metropolitan Police was approached for comment.

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