The inside story of a council held to ransom in cyber-attack

The inside story of a council held to ransom in cyber-attack 7 hours ago Share Save BBC England Investigations Share Save BBC A virus hidden in an email attachment spread though Redcar and Cleveland's computer network In the early hours an IT engineer raced into work through the dark, wintery streets of Redcar in north-east England. The dash was prompted by a worrying alert about the council's computer network, and he was soon hurriedly shutting down servers to try to halt the spread of a virus. It was too late. Hackers had scrambled Redcar and Cleveland Council's IT systems and would soon demand payment to restore it. The cyber-attack in February 2020 caused chaos, disrupting everything from bin collections to social services and decisions about how to keep vulnerable children safe. "I got a phone call to say: we've been hit," recalls Mary Lanigan, then leader of the council. "The destruction of our systems was total." In recent weeks, cyber-criminals have targeted major retailers ... Read full article.