The group claimed to have targeted Trafford, Bury, Salford, and Tameside town halls this week with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, flooding the websites with internet traffic to render them unusable.
Bury and Salford councils confirmed that their web pages were temporarily impacted by the incident but are now back online.
A group named NoName057(16), shown with a Russian flag in its profile, posted on X about its intentions to attack UK town halls, including those in Greater Manchester.
Officials from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) intervened to assist councils across the country in protecting themselves.
An NCSC spokesperson stated that they provided guidance to the affected councils.
They further added: “While DDoS attacks are relatively unsophisticated and have a low impact, they can cause disruption by blocking legitimate users from accessing online services.”
Bury and Salford councils mentioned that residents could still access services in person and over the phone while their websites were down.
Trafford and Tameside councils have been reached out to for comment.
In August, councils in Greater Manchester experienced a cyber attack when housing websites for Manchester, Salford, and Bolton were targeted in a phishing scam affecting thousands of individuals across the region.
Users received emails requesting personal data, prompting town halls to advise people to check their bank accounts for any suspicious activity and change passwords used to access the housing register.
Salford Home Search remained offline for weeks after the initial incident but eventually resumed operations.
Locata, the company providing housing software for councils nationwide, issued an apology for the disruption.
The company stated: “We acted swiftly to address the issue and, in collaboration with third-party IT experts, are investigating the matter.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reported receiving breach notifications from the councils in connection with the incident.
An ICO spokesperson mentioned: “Following assessments of the reports and inquiries to Salford and Bolton councils, we offered data protection advice and closed the cases without further action.”