Norfolk parish council gets X-rated makeover from hackers
It has not been established how the X-rated material found its way onto the website, but investigations are ongoing
Parish councils are known for many things – heated debates, long agendas and the occasional parking dispute – but rarely anything approaching the X-rated.
However, Old Catton Parish Council was left rather red-faced after hackers gave its website an unexpected and decidedly adult makeover.
While residents would usually expect to find details of its latest minutes or an upcoming quiz night, cyber criminals recently hijacked the authority’s contact page by replacing it with a scantily-clad woman.
The commandeered website also appeared to make reference to playing online slot machine games.
It has not been established how the X-rated material found its way onto the website, but investigations are ongoing.
A spokeswoman for Old Catton Parish Council, based north of Norwich, said it first became aware of the issue at just after 9am on Monday (June 15).
She confirmed the content was not approved or uploaded by any members of the council.
Some of the website, including the contact page, was still appearing with a 403 error on Monday morning, informing users that they were forbidden to access the resource due to being denied by the website’s server.
However, it is now active and perfectly U-rated once again.
“The issue was addressed immediately upon discovery and the affected content was removed,” the parish council spokeswoman added.
“Additional checks have since been carried out across the website and security measures reviewed as a precaution.”
Earlier this year, Norfolk County Council warned the risk of a major cyber attack on systems at County Hall is growing.
Officials said ransomware – software used by criminals to access computer data from its victim – is the highest risk of security threat.
It comes after hundreds of parish councils moved to the .gov.uk domain last year in order to improve their security.
According to the Society of Local Council Clerks, the government domain is more secure than others as councils are enlisted into a free protection service which helps keep them secure.
The government launched a new service at the start of 2025 in order to encourage parishes to make the switch over.
The National Association of Local Council website adds: “Using .gov.uk email addresses further protects communities by reducing the risk of phishing. Criminals cannot create .gov.uk email accounts, meaning residents can trust communications from their council.”
However, Old Catton Parish Council’s website is not one of those as it ends with .co.uk.