Council buys new housing IT system to boost services ravaged by cyber attack

The Town Hall has spent more than planned on recovering from the hack

Hackney Council has revealed it has purchased a new housing management system — as it seeks to get a grip on the lingering damage from a cyber attack four years ago.

Last month, the Citizen asked the council for an update on a new “off-the-shelf” solution it had announced in August 2023, which was tipped to help address the ongoing fallout of the “devastating” data breach.

The Town Hall’s ICT department confirmed that a new contract was signed on 17 December, and would be implemented this month (January), “with features to be released by the end of the year”.

“This follows a thorough review of available options, and negotiations to secure the best value for money for Hackney,” the team said.

“Benefits to the council’s operations will be realised in due course.”

The cyber attack in October 2020 ravaged the council’s systems and data, leaving a lasting impact on services during a housing crisis which has seen the borough confront one of the longest waiting lists in the capital (20.6 years).

But in July this year, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the local authority was not without blame, and criticised the Town Hall’s own cyber security failings.

Stephen Bonner, deputy commissioner at the regulator, said the breach was a “clear and avoidable error” by the council, pointing to “simple mistakes like having dormant accounts where the username and password are the same”.

At the time, the council said it did not accept the ICO’s findings and that it had not violated its security obligations.

In December, the Citizen reported that the local authority had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds more than planned in dealing with the aftermath of the hack.

Close to £350,000 has gone towards hiring more agency staff, partly to manage a backlog arising from the attack. A further £413,000 is being spent on IT consultants with “cyber security knowledge”.

While the council likely hopes the rollout of a new system will afford some breathing space, its housing services remain under significant pressure, as demand for temporary accommodation drives up its eye-watering budget overspend.

In November, Cllr Sade Etti said the ongoing software recovery had also dashed the Town Hall’s hopes of saving money as a result of controversial rule changes made to the borough’s housing waiting list years ago.