The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the Westminster City Council (WCC) announced that they are experiencing service disruptions following a cybersecurity issue.
Multiple systems have been impacted by the attack, including phone lines, which prompted the two councils to activate emergency plans to make sure that residents still receive critical services.
The two authorities have been impacted at the same time because they share some IT infrastructure as part of joint arrangements.
A third council, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), also shares some services with RBKC and WCC and decided to take "enhanced measures to isolate and safeguard our networks," which led to business disruptions.
Westminster City Council is a major local authority in the U.K., with important landmarks in the area, like the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), the Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, national institutions, important shopping streets, and significant tourist hotspots.
The councils, which provide services for 360,000 residents, shut down several computerised systems as a precaution to limit further possible damage.
RBKC is one of the smallest boroughs in London (in terms of size and population) but also the wealthiest (in terms of GDP per capita) in the UK, while LBHF is a mid-sized but still significant council serving 180,000 residents.
In an announcement yesterday, the RBKC said that it had an issue that prevented residents from contacting the council through online services or the contact center.
The council later published a statement saying that it was "responding to a cyber security issue" that occurred on Monday and also affected Westminster City Council.
The local authority stated that investigations into the perpetrators and their motives are ongoing and that it will publish updates as soon as more information becomes available.
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