Data including addresses and social work reports have been affected by the recent West Lothian cyber attack.

West Lothian Council has announced that sensitive data, including social work reports, were compromised at 12 schools across the county.

According to the authority, the schools affected are: Armadale Academy, Bathgate Academy, Broxburn Academy, Deans Community High School, Inveralmond Community High School, James Young High School, Linlithgow Academy, St Kentigern’s Academy, St. Margaret’s Academy, West Calder High School, Whitburn Academy and Holy Family Primary.

An email distributed to parents warned that sensitive data may have been affected.

It read: “A small proportion of files that were compromised were of a personal and sensitive nature. For example, it is possible that names, addresses, email addresses and learning materials were amongst the data taken from the affected schools. Parents/carers with children at any of the affected schools above should be aware of this information and take appropriate precautions.

West Lothian Council was first alerted to a ransomware attack targeting its education network at around 7am on Tuesday, May 6 | Submitted

placeholder image — West Lothian Council was first alerted to a ransomware attack targeting its education network at around 7am on Tuesday, May 6 | Submitted

“Reports shared by social work and other agencies were also compromised. Our staff have already contacted those individuals deemed to be most at risk.”

The council’s education network was breached on May 6 and police have been actively pursuing an investigation into the causes of the incident.

Updating parents, Dr Elaine Cook, depute chief executive, said: “This will be monitored and will be responded to within a reasonable timescale. Please note that as this is a live investigation it may not be possible to provide specific individual information beyond that contained within this communication.

“This is an ongoing investigation and if there is a need to contact you in future, you will be contacted directly.

“I would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding. We do apologise for providing this update during the school holiday period. However, we wanted to ensure that you are fully up-to-date.”

Schools in West Lothian were affected by the attack towards the end of the term, with teachers forced to operate offline when teaching. ICT devices were removed from the network and unable to be used by pupils for learning purposes.