Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sepa cyber-attack threatens to derail Bow Fiddle Rock cafe plans

Portknockie builder Sandy Laing has had his efforts to build a cafe delayed by a cyber attack on Sepa.
Portknockie builder Sandy Laing has had his efforts to build a cafe delayed by a cyber attack on Sepa.

A cyber-attack on Sepa is threatening to derail plans for a new cafe at Portknockie’s Bow Fiddle Rock.

The environment agency has been under a “complex and sophisticated” bombardment since December – bringing much of its operations to a halt.

As a criminal investigation continues and Sepa takes steps to prevent any further damage, it has been unable to process applications from developers.

The fallout has hit all manner of people – including for Portknockie developer Sandy Laing, who has been left frustrated for several months in his attempts to build a cafe on land overlooking the celebrated natural landmark.

‘I would give up, but I’ve got people asking about jobs’

A 15-month planning row, eventually won on appeal, had already delayed the project in the Moray village.

Now Mr Laing, who has already spent £8,000 on the plans before a shovel has been put in the ground, is sometimes left wishing he had never embarked on the venture.

However, he remains committed to the project to bring employment to the village he has lived in his whole life as well as benefits for tourists.

Bow Fiddle Rock.

He said: “If I had known it would be this long a process I probably would never have started. I’m becoming very discouraged by it all.

“We can’t do anything until we get the permissions from Sepa but it’s very difficult to move things forward with them at the moment because of the cyber-attack.

“I would give up, but I’ve got people who keep asking me about jobs. That’s one of the main reasons I started.”

Sepa cyber-attack subject to criminal investigation

Sepa says the cyber-attack affecting its internal systems, processes and communications, which have hit the Bow Fiddle Rock plans, is currently subject to a live criminal investigation.

More than 4,000 files, which included a mix of information – public and otherwise –  were stolen in the hack and published online in January.

Since then, Sepa says it has disconnected its IT systems to avoid further unauthorised access.

Mr Laing, who is a retired builder, has owned the land overlooking the cliffs at Portknockie since 1988 and it was once home to his business.

After decades working within sight of the Bow Fiddle Rock, he believes there is a demand for a cafe from visitors.

He said: “While I’ve been working here, I’ve seen lots of people go to have a look at Bow Fiddle Rock, and they have often asked me where they can get something to eat.

“We’re not talking about big meals, just a cup of tea and a snack.”

Information on Sepa’s website has advised developers that it is currently unable to process permit applications.

It adds: “We are currently unable to receive, verify or determine applications for waste management licences, simple waste exemptions or controlled activities in the water environment, including registration of new private sewage systems.

“The exceptions to this are existing private sewage treatment systems.

“Please do not submit any applications at this time and check regular updates.

“While some systems and services may be badly affected for some time, step-by-step we’re working to assess and consider how we recover.”

Sepa declined to comment further when contacted by the Press and Journal, but encouraged Mr Laing to contact them directly if he had an urgent issue.