Comhairle nan Eilean Siar joined the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland to deliver cyber security information sessions to local organisations on 30th April at the Caladh Hotel, Stornoway.
The well attended sessions gave public and private sector organisations an opportunity to hear about Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s experience of a Cyber-Attack, learn more about the threat of Cyber-Attacks as well as some steps that can be taken to mitigate their impact.
Speaking on the Cyber Security sessions, Malcolm Burr, Chief Executive of the Comhairle said:
“Since the cyber-attack the Comhairle has taken steps to improve the security of systems and safeguard data. Alongside improved security measures the Comhairle views cyber-security education as a key step that any organisation can take to improve cyber resilience. It was excellent that so many local organisations saw the value in this education and attended today’s sessions.”
The cyber roadshow sessions followed on from discussion on the cyber-attack at the meeting of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Policy and Resources Committee held in Vatersay on 24 April 2024. At the meeting Comhairle members were provided with a report by the Chief Executive on the response to the Cyber-Attack, which also provided further reassurance that there was no evidence that any data stored on the Comhairle’s servers had been published.
Since the cyber-Attack the work of rebuilding systems has been led by the Comhairle’s Incident Management Team. Working alongside expert organisations the Comhairle is continuing to restore and rebuild impacted systems which has included the migration of some systems to Cloud based alternatives.
In the report the Chief Executive provided the following conclusions:
“The Incident Management Team continues to work closely with Services to identify areas where support is required and to explore opportunities to improve and future-proof service delivery. The IMT is also exploring potential digital efficiencies where Services can gain additional benefits from the rebuilding process. It is inevitable that there will be additional costs resulting from the cyber-attack and further information will be provided to the Comhairle as these costs become available. The Comhairle will seek financial support on the costs associated with the rebuild.”