Almost 16,000 cyber "attacks" were made against Hertfordshire County Council between January and March this year, according to the latest figures.

The data is included in a report due to be presented to a meeting of the council’s resources and performance cabinet panel on Wednesday (June 9).

It says the exact number of attacks – between January 1 and March 31 this year – was 15,964. That’s a rate of 181 cyber attacks a day.

According to the report, it’s phishing attempts – where attempts are made to get recipients to share data – that are the biggest risk to county council security.

The report states: ”There were 15,964 cyber security attacks on county council systems with all attempts successfully repelled.

“Email phishing attempts continue to be the highest threat.”