The Supreme Court of New South Wales has agreed to an application from Wattle Range Council in its dealings with alleged cyber criminals.

A ransom was unsuccessfully demanded after the council data base had been hacked in recent times and 40,000 files stolen.

In response, Wattle Range Council obtained legal advice and sought a court-ordered injunction.

This was granted in Sydney on Friday and council issued a statement over the weekend.

The Supreme Court order prevents the access, dissemination, or publication of Wattle Range Council data that has been or may be posted on the dark web by any third party.

The issue has occupied much of council’s attention in recent weeks and was the subject of a special meeting on July 26 and informal gatherings on July 23 and July 26.

“Obtaining this Supreme Court injunction is part of Wattle Range Council’s ongoing commitment to our community and staff to take all reasonable steps in response to this cyber incident,” council chief executive Ben Gower said.

“As you can appreciate in these circumstances, we have the usual assurances in place to ensure the processes and support we are receiving benefits and safeguards our community.

“As our investigation into the cyber incident is ongoing, we are not at liberty to comment on current legal details and costs.

“We ask that interested parties do not try and access any Wattle Range Council data on the dark web, as this is a criminal offence in contravention of the Supreme Court Order.

“As soon as Wattle Range Council became aware of this cyber incident, we launched an investigation to ascertain what information is involved.

“We take the protection of our data very seriously and continue to work with the relevant authorities and government agencies in response to this cyber incident.”