Council a leading player on security

Scam emails made to appear like legitimate communications from the council could now be a thing of the past.

So-called “phishing” emails – whose senders try to trick people into sending them bank details or money – are among the cyber attacks which cost the UK billions of pounds last year.

However, Shetland Islands Council is at the forefront of the national battle to stamp out the malicious emails.

It is one of only two local authorities in Scotland to have fully implemented the anti-spoofing security measure recommended by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ).

The DMARC system (domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance) was installed around March this year by the council’s ICT department at the cost of £1,000.

The work was not easy but according to an IT worker, it has now been rolled out across the authority, according to the IT department.

Half of the British population has been targeted by cyber criminals, with eight per cent having fallen victim.

New research has revealed that, for the first time, younger people are more likely to be lured in by phishing attempts compared with those over the age of 55.