Perth and Kinross Council has revealed that bank details of some businesses may have been accessed after an emails breach.
The local authority says it detected unauthorised access to a limited number of emails on Monday.
The incident involved one user’s email account.
Eight emails were accessed as part of the breach – which was identified and “secured promptly”.
The council has apologised for any concern the incident has caused.
Perth and Kinross Council apologies after emails breach
A post on its website said: “Some of these emails had attachments which may also have been accessed which contained bank account numbers and sort codes of some businesses, individual suppliers and commercial waste customers.
“Rest assured, this incident does not affect recipients of other council services, such as welfare payments or payments made for council tax and housing rent.
“We will directly contact affected individuals to inform them as soon as possible.”
The council is urging people to be cautious of any unusual emails claiming to be from them.
“Always verify that emails come from @pkc.gov.uk addresses and be wary of unexpected changes or requests and treat links and attachments with caution,” the post continued.
“If something seems off, please speak to your usual council contact using a different communication method than the one given on the email you are concerned about.
“We take the protection of personal and company information very seriously and are very sorry for the inconvenience and concern that this incident has caused.”
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