Cyber attack on Gloucester City Council linked to Russia could cost £1million

The cyber attack has been linked to Russia Credit: PA Wire

A cyber attack linked to Russia has cost more than £750,000 so far and the final bill could rise above £1million.

Benefit payments, planning applications and house sales were all delayed after hackers linked to Russia compromised Gloucester City Council’s IT systems in December last year.

The authority had to rebuild all of its servers after malware, which is software designed to disrupt, damage or gain unauthorised access to a computer, made it onto their systems.

Liberal Democrat group leader Jeremy Hilton said: "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."

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Deputy leader Hanna Norman said she could not assure fellow councillors the final bill would not be over £1million.

She said: “I can give you the assurance that every penny we spend is scrutinised and we are making decisions based on value for money.”

The council has received £250,000 in grant funding and has set aside a further £380,000 into a cyber reserve. The money will be spent on IT improvement works in the future.

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