The council announced last week that it had experienced a cyber attack, and have released the following statement clarifying the situation:
"We can confirm that we are now investigating a data breach as a result of a cyber attack earlier this week at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
After discovering unusual activity first thing Monday morning, we have been taking all necessary steps to shut down and isolate systems and make them as safe as possible.
We have now obtained evidence on our systems that shows some data has been copied and then taken away. At this moment in time, we believe the breach only impacts historical data.
It is important to say we still have access to this information, it has not been stolen, but it is possible it could end up in the public domain. As a priority we are checking if this contains any personal or financial details of residents, customers, and service users – but this will take some time.
With advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), we are encouraging all residents, customers, and service users to be extra vigilant when called, emailed or sent text messages.
Please read and follow NCSC advice on keeping your data safe and what to do if you are worried about this data breach.
www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/data-breaches
www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online
Again, we apologise for the disruption being caused and the understandable concern this may cause.
We have started to bring systems and services back online with safety and data protection as a top priority. However, we do face at least two weeks of significant disruption, but our Council services will continue to run. Our Customer Service Centre is open and will have additional people available to help.
We will do our very best to answer any urgent enquiries, and have some phone lines up and running. Please understand our staff may not have all the answers at this point in time.
Due to the incident, we are opening our Customer Service Centre at Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street this weekend (29 and 30 November) from 10am to 4pm. This is for emergency in-person queries only. Please also be aware that we are unable to access many of our systems, so will do our best to answer your enquiry if you do have an emergency.
For enquiries, please visit our Contact Us web page for phone numbers and email contacts: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/contact-us/call-or-email-us. Our phone lines are currently experiencing some issues so please do email if you are having problems.
We are working with the Met Police and crime agencies on an investigation, in an effort to establish who did this, why, and if at all possible, bring them to justice. We are continuing to update all relevant agencies, including the National Cyber Security Centre, Information Commissioner, and regulators where appropriate.
We will continue to update residents, customers, service users and partners over the coming days in an open and transparent way.
What does this mean if you are a resident or customer?
If you have bought something from us, for example a parking permit. Our advice would be to make sure bank and card details are safe and secure, and be vigilant.
If you are worried about personal data that is not financial, please follow steps outlined in the advice above, and we will be working hard to contact people if we find anything over the coming days and weeks.
If you want to talk to us, some of our phone lines and Customer Service Centres are open, but please appreciate we may not have all the answers at this point.
Please be assured we are only sharing this update to alert people at the first opportunity and to make sure people have the chance to take action themselves.
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said: “As soon as I was informed there might be a data break impacting residents, I asked officers to make sure we tell people at the earliest possible opportunity.
“Even if we do not yet have the full picture of what data has been copied, and whether that does include any personal details, it is the right thing to do.
“All I know is - as a resident myself - I would want to know this information as soon as possible and then be able to make my own choices, follow advice, and protect myself if I think necessary."