Cyberattacks/Cyber breaches
Case reference FOI2024/00481
Published 2 May 2024
Request
I am writing to submit a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information regarding cyberattacks/cyber breaches experienced by your local council over the past five years. Specifically, I am requesting the following information for each year from 2019 to 2024: 1. The total number of cyberattacks detected or reported to you for each year (and month if possible) between and including 2019 and 2024 2. A breakdown of the types of cyberattacks experienced, including but not limited to: * Phishing attacks * Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks * Malware infections * Ransomware attacks * Insider threats * Other types of cyber threats, if applicable. If possible, please provide the data in a tabulated format, clearly indicating the number of cyberattacks for each year and the type of attack. If providing a breakdown of the types of cyberattacks isn't possible, please provide any available information on the most common or significant types of cyberattacks experienced by the local authority during the specified period.
Response
With regards to all aspects of our cybersecurity defences we are unable to provide information as requests for information on our cyber security constitute a refusal notice under Section 17.1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The exemption in Section 31(1) is designed to cover all aspects of the prevention and detection of crime. We acknowledge the public interest in openness and transparency, and we recognise that releasing this information would provide the public with assurance that we are protecting our technologies and information related to it. However,disclosure of the information requested could make Council more vulnerable to cyber-crime as it outlines the Council's security posture which could be used as a starting point to attack network infrastructure and/or information systems. It is in the public interest to disclose information that informs the public of how we spend our money, especially where this relates to the provision of public services. There is also always a strong interest in disclosure from the Freedom of Information Act; in addition to our Council's commitment to transparency and openness. However,while we strive to be transparent, we must also consider the importance of our duty to provide the public with quality and value for money services. As a result of this duty, and the risk of potential prejudice to it posed by the various reasons laid out above, we believe the interest in withholding this information outweighs that for disclosure.
Documents
This is Oxford City Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.