Oxford City Council Confirms Cybersecurity Incident Impacting Historic Election Worker Data
Oxford City Council has reported a cybersecurity breach involving unauthorized access to its network systems over the weekend of June 7–8, 2025. The incident prompted the Council to temporarily shut down core systems to investigate and contain the threat.
Though officials state that the attackers’ access was limited, the breach affected historic data stored in legacy systems. This included sensitive records of election workers spanning 2001 to 2022.
Council Systems Temporarily Shut Down Amid Incident Response
Upon detecting the unauthorized presence, Oxford City Council acted swiftly by shutting down its main systems. Services across the Council experienced disruptions lasting approximately a week, while internal teams and cybersecurity specialists conducted forensic analysis and remediation.
The Council has since confirmed that email and core digital systems remain safe to use. However, some legacy databases—still housing older records—were accessed by the intruders.
The exposed data reportedly includes names and contact information tied to past election workers, though the full scope and potential misuse remain under investigation.
Response and Recovery Underway
As of now, the Council has restored the majority of its services and is continuing to assess the impact of the breach. No ransomware demands or claims of responsibility have been publicly reported, and the Council has yet to disclose whether the breach was targeted or opportunistic.
This incident follows broader concerns around public sector cybersecurity and the vulnerability of legacy systems often still in use across government agencies.
Looking for a trusted recovery solution?
Defend your organization with StoneFly DR365—an air-gapped, immutable backup and recovery appliance trusted by enterprises to ensure zero data loss even in the event of complex cyberattacks.
