The threat of cyber attacks has Dumfries and Galloway Council on alert.
The local authority has pulled together an action plan to protect its digital systems in the wake of other UK councils being targeted by Russian hackers and their systems being badly affected.
Gloucester Council’s security had been breached in December last year, resulting in benefit payments, planning applications and house sales all being delayed due to compromised IT systems. The council’s services still hadn’t returned to normal six months later.
