Russian state-aligned hackers are targeting local government in UK, Government cyber security organisation warns

The centre said that hackers are persistently targeting UK organisations, "particularly local government and operators of critical infrastructure".

It recommended that local authorities review their defences and improve their cyber resilience by preparing and being able to respond to denial of service (DoS) attacks.

It also encouraged organisations to engage with the NCSC’s heightened cyber threat collection.

The NCSC said that while DoS attacks are typically low in sophistication, a successful attack can disrupt entire systems, costing organisations significant time, money, and operational resilience by having to analyse, defend against, and recover from them.

NCSC Director of National Resilience, Jonathon Ellison, said: “By overwhelming important websites and online systems, these attacks can prevent people from accessing the essential services they depend on every day.

“All organisations, especially those identified in today’s alert, are urged to act now by reviewing and implementing the NCSC’s freely available guidance to protect against DoS attacks and other cyber threats.”

The alert, which sets out guidance on how to mitigate DoS attacks, can be found on the  NCSC's website.

Adam Carey