A “critical” cyber attack on a fund containing the pensions of local government employees in the West of England is “almost certain”.
Avon Pension Fund, which has over 135,000 members across the former county of Avon, lists a cyber attack at the top of its latest risk register.
Plans are in place to mitigate the impact of any attack, but even after these it is “likely” there will be a critical impact on the fund, meaning that the fund could be unable to operate and members could fail to receive pension payouts on time.
Nick Dixon, head of pensions, said: “I think in most public and private sector organisations, if you do a risk register, cyber is right up top.”
But he added: “We have got a very robust set of systems in place to mitigate and that is the critical thing.”
Under the fund’s risk framework, “almost certain” means there is an 81–100% likelihood of an attack happening, while “likely” means there is a 51–80% chance of it having a critical impact.
In December 2022, an attack was considered “unlikely” but it was changed to “almost certain” in May 2023 and has stayed at that level since.
No other risk is anticipated to have a critical impact on the fund, once mitigation measures are in place.
But the risk register did also warn that poor service levels and errors from poor controls were likely to have a “high” impact even after measures to control them.
Commenting on the risk register at the pension board’s meeting on 4th September, chair of the board Nick Weaver said: “The cyber one scares the hell out of me. Everything’s being cyber attacked at the moment, but it is just where we are.”
Despite the cyber danger, Mr Dixon said the fund’s position was “strong” and “getting better”.
The fund was set up for employees of local government in the short-lived county of Avon.
The county was dissolved in 1996 and replaced with Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, South Gloucestershire Council, and Bath and North East Somerset Council — the latter of which was given the responsibility of continuing to administer the Avon Pension Fund.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
