More than half of local authorities have no strategy to protect them against cyber attack, according to a survey by internet experts.
Digital Health Intelligence said 58% of 281 English local authorities responding to freedom of information requests had no strategy even though a fifth had suffered a cyber attack in the previous 12 months.
Tara Athanasiou, director of intelligence at Digital Health said: 'Our research highlights a significant absence of cyber strategies in many local authorities.
'This will be a real concern for the citizens that use and trust public services with their data, more so after the high profile WannaCry ransomware attacks targeted at the NHS.'