The $250,000 cyber attack that sparked bolstered security for City of Newcastle

CYBER SECURITY: Newcastle council's email servers were hacked through a phishing scam in August 2019, resulting in more than $233,000 being transferred to a fraudulent account. Picture: Simone De Peak

City of Newcastle has implemented more vigilant cyber security after a 2019 email cyber attack resulted in a debt of almost $250,000, according to council's CEO.

Council's email systems were hacked in August 2019 through a phishing email scam and debtors were issued with fake invoices. These were paid to a fraudulent account while council's actual tipping fee invoice was left outstanding.