Local searches, which form an essential part of conveyancers role during a home buying process, could be compromised as Councils has reported that UK Local Authorities are fending off 800 cyber attacks every hour.
The information the Local Authority holds enables conveyancers to advise their clients accordingly and make informed decisions on whether they need to renegotiate an offer or even pull out of a purchase – and are also required by mortgage lenders.
Councils across the UK are facing unprecedented numbers of cyber-attacks, with nearly half (49%) of local councils being targeted since the start of 2017, according to Gallagher – one of the world’s largest insurance broking, risk management and consulting services companies.
Freedom of information (FOI) requests by Gallagher found that out of the 203 councils that responded, 101 had experienced an attempted cyber-attack on their IT systems since 2017. More than a third (37%) of these local authorities had experienced cyber-attacks in the first half of this year.
The councils admitted to experiencing 263 million attacks in the first six months of 2019. A further 204 councils either declined the information request…
