City of Edinburgh Council

The City of Edinburgh Council is the local authority responsible for governing Edinburgh, Scotland. It delivers education services, overseeing schools and early years settings and managing their IT networks. The council also operates an externally hosted website service provider that provides online information and transactional services to the public. As a Scottish local authority, it collaborates with national bodies such as the Scottish Government and the Scottish Qualifications Authority on matters including cyber security. Its headquarters are located in the United Kingdom.

In May 2025 the council detected a spear‑phishing attempt targeting its schools and early years IT network, leading to a precautionary password reset for all education service users. The response involved shutting down affected networks, informing parents and schools, and arranging on‑site password collection for pupils preparing for exams. No data was confirmed to be compromised, and the incident was reported to the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the Scottish Government cyber‑coordination centre. In June 2015 a malicious cyber attack compromised the council's externally hosted website service provider, exposing over 13,000 email addresses from its database. The council reported that breach to the Information Commissioner's Office and the UK Government's Computer Emergency Response Team, and took immediate steps to enhance security protocols. Throughout both incidents the council affirmed that core services remained operational and that affected individuals were notified with guidance to mitigate further risk.