A SUSPECTED cyberattack has caused significant disruption to IT systems at a Scottish council. 

The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar council for the Western Isles confirmed access to its systems had been affected, the BBC reports.

As a result, the Scottish Government and computer company Dell have been helping to deal with the situation.

In an attack such as this, hackers use malicious software to scramble and steal an organisation’s computer data.

It comes after the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had thousands of files stolen in 2020.

In February this year, Audit Scotland confirmed some money had been written off as a result, but the full financial impact was still unknown.

Auditor General Stephen Boyle said the attack had continued to have a “significant impact” on Sepa’s performance.