Suffolk County Council

Suffolk County Council experienced a **denial-of-service (DoS) cyber-attack**, rendering its website and several online services unavailable. The attack, claimed by a group on social media, deliberately overloaded the council’s systems with excessive traffic, disrupting public access to essential digital services. The incident also affected other regional entities, including the **Suffolk Chamber of Commerce** and **Harwich Town Council**, suggesting a coordinated effort to destabilize local governance and business operations. While no data breach or financial theft was reported, the outage hindered administrative processes, public communications, and service delivery—potentially eroding trust in the council’s cybersecurity resilience. Restoration efforts were underway, but the attack highlighted vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, raising concerns about future disruptions to municipal functions and citizen engagement.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0r8npkk5eo

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/suffolk-county-council

"id": "suf2431124111025",
"linkid": "suffolk-county-council",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "9/2025",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "2",
"explanation": "Attack limited on finance or reputation"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Public Administration',
                        'location': 'Suffolk, UK',
                        'name': 'Suffolk County Council',
                        'type': 'Local Government'},
                       {'industry': 'Chamber of Commerce',
                        'location': 'Suffolk, UK',
                        'name': 'Suffolk Chamber of Commerce',
                        'type': 'Business Organization'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Administration',
                        'location': 'Essex, UK',
                        'name': 'Harwich Town Council',
                        'type': 'Local Government'}],
 'attack_vector': 'Traffic overload (volumetric attack)',
 'customer_advisories': {'details': 'Acknowledgment of service disruption via '
                                    'spokesperson statement',
                         'public_notice': True},
 'description': "Suffolk County Council's website and several of its online "
                'services were taken down due to a denial of service (DoS) '
                'attack. A group on social media claimed responsibility, '
                'stating they had also targeted Suffolk Chamber of Commerce '
                'and Harwich Town Council in Essex. The council confirmed '
                'efforts were underway to restore the affected services.',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential erosion of public trust due '
                                       'to service unavailability',
            'operational_impact': 'Service disruption for public-facing '
                                  'digital platforms',
            'systems_affected': [{'status': 'Unavailable',
                                  'system': 'Suffolk County Council website'},
                                 {'status': 'Disrupted',
                                  'system': 'Online services (multiple)'}]},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (recovery phase)',
 'references': [{'source': 'News article (unspecified)'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': {'details': 'Spokesperson confirmed '
                                                    'DoS attack and ongoing '
                                                    'recovery efforts',
                                         'public_statement': True},
              'containment_measures': ['Traffic mitigation (ongoing)'],
              'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
              'recovery_measures': ['Restoration of website and services (in '
                                    'progress)']},
 'threat_actor': [{'name': 'Unnamed group (self-claimed on social media)'}],
 'title': 'Suffolk County Council Cyber-Attack (Denial of Service)',
 'type': 'Denial of Service (DoS) Attack'}