Civica denies involvement in cyberattack affecting UK councils
KENT, UNITED KINGDOM — Global software and outsourcing firm Civica has refuted any involvement in the recent cyberattack that disrupted online services for three local councils in Kent, United Kingdom, affecting over 300,000 residents.
Canterbury City, Dover District, and Thanet District councils reported the incident on Friday and have temporarily taken public systems offline, collaborating with the UK’s National Cyber Security Center for an ongoing investigation.
The cyberattack seems linked to an outage impacting EK Services (EKS), which has been responsible for IT and HR services under a Civica deal since 2018. Canterbury’s payment systems managed by EKS were affected, while Dover and Thanet reported issues with online forms and payments.
Civica spokesperson Fintan Hastings clarified, “The incident did not originate from Civica’s systems.” However, the company neither confirmed nor denied EKS as the victim. Hastings assured, “We will support affected customers if requested.”
Despite the disruption, councils state no customer data breach occurred, but the timeline for service restoration remains unclear.
Civica, serving over 100 million people globally, reported $600 million in annual revenue and 4,000 employees. In 2023, Blackstone acquired Civica, marking its 20th year of growth with an 18.7% EBITDA increase to £110.5 million (US$140.3 million) in 2021.
