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Crisis communications – cyber attack

What do you do when your online systems are unavailable, either through technical fault or cyber attack? How do you respond to an emergency when your digital channels are down?


If you’re experiencing a cyber incident please report this to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) through their online incident reporting tool.

If you are reporting fraud or cyber crime, please refer to the Action Fraud website.

Cyber security and the crisis communications response

On February 6, 2023, the LGA were joined by expert speakers to discuss what to be aware of during a cyber attack, and how to plan for an affective response to a potential threat.

Presentation available below:

Dr Jason R C Nurse, Associate Professor in Cyber Security, University of Kent

You should ask the NCSC for help if your organisation has experienced a severe cyber incident which poses a risk to your ongoing operation or to your customers or supply chain. The NCSC also appreciate reports of less severe incidents, for information only, to help them further understand key adversaries, revise guidance, or potentially help to protect other organisations.

Reporting an incident to the NCSC does not fulfil any legal or regulatory incident reporting requirement.

For additional support and advice please contact the LGA Cyber Security Team [email protected] from an uncompromised device.

More information on Emergency communications can be found on the LGA Comms Hub.