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Council housing services still affected by cyberattack nine months on
Housing and benefit services at a council in east London rocked by a vicious cyberattack nine months ago are still being affected.
Housing and benefit services at a council in east London rocked by a vicious cyberattack nine months ago are still being affected #UKhousingHackney Council in October 2020 suffered a hack by criminals that is continuing to cause disruption.
The local authority is currently unable to accept new applications to join the housing waiting list.
Households already on the list can still bid for homes, but the council is unable to access register records or update them to reflect changes in circumstances.
An online form for reporting repairs remains unavailable, meaning tenants must report issues over the phone.
Council tenants are unable to pay rent over the phone, by cash or card, or through new direct debits, and the online system for paying rent and service charges is unavailable.
Benefit services have also been affected, and the council is working through a backlog of new housing benefit claims, having been unable to access the system for months after the cyberattack.
New claims for housing benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments are only being dealt with on an emergency basis.
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Some residents are also receiving incorrect payments or no payments at all because of errors caused by the hack. The council is focusing on resolving issues for people in supported housing and where tenancies are under threat.
A spokesperson for the council told Inside Housing: “Our staff are now working hard to go through the backlog of new claims and prioritising the most urgent cases, and we expect that the full recovery of our housing benefits service will still take some months whilst this work is being completed.”
A note on a Department for Work and Pensions data release previously said that housing benefit data problems at Hackney Council are unlikely to be fixed until late 2021.
The council had said it expects recovery work to take at least four to six months.
Some planning services also remain unavailable, including land searches, with the council requesting that planning applications lodged before 1 October 2020 be resubmitted.
The hack is expected to cost the council around £10m in total.
In January, documents purporting to show council staff and residents’ personal data was posted to the dark web.
A statement on the council’s website reads: “Council services are currently significantly disrupted due to a serious cyberattack, and you may experience difficulty contacting us or using our services.
“Key essential services, including our coronavirus response, continue to operate, but some of our services may be unavailable or disrupted for some time.
“We are working hard to restore services, protect data and investigate the attack with the National Cyber Security Centre, National Crime Agency and external experts.
“Residents and businesses are asked to avoid contacting us unless absolutely necessary – but our phone lines remain open for essential help and advice and emergency support.”
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