At least two London councils—**Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and Westminster City Council**—faced a **cyber-attack** that disrupted critical IT infrastructure shared between them. The incident, detected on a Monday, forced the shutdown of multiple computerized systems, including phone lines, as a precautionary measure to contain potential damage. Engineers worked overnight to mitigate the breach, but the extent of data compromise remains under investigation. The councils serve **360,000 residents**, and the attack’s disruption to public services (e.g., administrative, communication, and digital systems) raises concerns over operational continuity, reputational harm, and potential exposure of sensitive resident or employee data. While no confirmed data theft has been reported, the proactive shutdown suggests a **high-risk scenario** where attackers may have gained unauthorized access to municipal networks, risking leaks of personal, financial, or governance-related information.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/royal-borough-of-kensington-and-chelsea
"id": "roy5694156112625",
"linkid": "royal-borough-of-kensington-and-chelsea",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "5/2025",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '360,000 residents (shared with '
'Westminster)',
'industry': 'Public Sector',
'location': 'London, UK',
'name': 'Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea '
'(RBKC)',
'type': 'Local Government'},
{'customers_affected': '360,000 residents (shared with '
'RBKC)',
'industry': 'Public Sector',
'location': 'London, UK',
'name': 'Westminster City Council',
'type': 'Local Government'}],
'date_detected': '2024-10-28T00:00:00Z',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-10-29T00:00:00Z',
'description': 'At least two London councils (Royal Borough of Kensington and '
'Chelsea and Westminster City Council) were hit by a '
'cyber-attack, prompting the invocation of emergency plans. '
'The councils, which share some IT infrastructure, reported '
'that several systems—including phone lines—were affected. '
'Services for 360,000 residents were disrupted, and '
'computerised systems were shut down as a precaution to limit '
'further damage. Engineers worked through the night to address '
'the incident, which occurred on Monday and extended into '
'Tuesday.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational damage due to '
'service disruption',
'downtime': 'Ongoing as of last report (at least 2 days: Monday to '
'Tuesday)',
'operational_impact': 'Disruption of services for 360,000 '
'residents; emergency plans invoked',
'systems_affected': ['Phone lines',
'Computerised systems (shut down as '
'precaution)']},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (as of last report)',
'references': [{'date_accessed': '2024-10-29', 'source': 'The Guardian'}],
'response': {'containment_measures': 'Shut down of computerised systems to '
'limit damage',
'incident_response_plan_activated': 'Yes (emergency plans '
'invoked)',
'remediation_measures': 'Engineers worked through the night to '
'address the incident'},
'title': 'Cyber-Attack on London Councils (Royal Borough of Kensington and '
'Chelsea and Westminster City Council)',
'type': 'Cyber Attack (Unspecified, likely ransomware or disruptive malware)'}