Leicester streetlights on day and night following cyber-attack

Effects of ‘highly sophisticated’ breach still being felt

The cyber-attack disclosed earlier this month has left some streetlights lit at all hours of the day as well as after dark.

The effects of the cyber-attack on Leicester City Council revealed earlier this month continue to be felt.

The initial disruption to council services from the attack in March lasted for weeks, but while the epicentre of the event has calmed, the ripples continue to be felt further out. One of these ripples is the fact that some streetlights are staying on in daylight hours, wasting energy and council taxpayers' money.

In a statement, a city council spokesperson said: "We are aware of a number of streetlights that are staying on during the day. This is due to a technical issue connected to the recent cyber-attack, when we were forced to shut down our IT systems. It means we are currently not able to remotely identify faults in the street lighting system.

"The default mode for faults is that the lights stay on to ensure that roads are not left completely unlit and become a safety concern.

"There are a number of steps required to resolve the problem, and we are working through these as quickly as we can."

INC Ransom , which has a track record of targeting government ad public sector institutions claimed responsibility for the March attack. The council revealed that the ‘proof pack' leaked online by the groups included documents such as council housing purchase applications and personal ID records.

Staff are working with Leicestershire Police and the National Cyber Security Centre as part of an ongoing investigation into the attack.

NHS Scotland have also been victims of the INC Ransom group which emerged last summer.