Streetlights in Leicester cannot be turned off due to a cyberattack.

A cyberattack on the municipality of Leicester resulted in certain streetlights remaining on all day and had a serious impact on the council's operations. In March, Leicester City Council was hit by a cyberattack that significantly affected the authorities' work and led to the leak of confidential documents. The ransomware group behind the attack leaked numerous documents, including rental receipts and applications for purchasing homes from the council. The attack occurred on March 7 and paralyzed the municipality's information systems.

During the investigation of the incident, it was found that the cyberattack affected the "central control system" of the street lighting, leading to "malfunctions" of the streetlights. Residents of the city noticed that the streetlights were constantly on during the day, which raised concerns and questions among the locals.

Reaction of the city council

A representative of the city council stated that the issue with street lighting should be completely resolved by the end of next week. Due to a technical problem caused by a cyberattack, the council's information systems were shut down, which hinders the remote identification of faults in the street lighting system.

Street lights have been left on to keep the roads safe, despite the fact that this causes unnecessary energy consumption. The City Council is working to solve the problem and urges residents to be patient.