A ransomware cyberattack on the NHS has brought the
service into meltdown with operations cancelled and GP
surgeries closed.
Non-emergency procedures have been suspended and
ambulances are being diverted as part of what is now
believed to be a co-ordinated attack targeting dozens of
countries.
The IT systems of 23 NHS organisations in England and
Scotland, including many trusts and hospitals, have been
affected by the ransomware attack.
The attacks involve malicious software blocking victims from
accessing data and demanding a ransom in exchange for
access being returned.
One junior doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, told
Sky News the hackers had "stopped access to everything,
including patients' medical records" at their hospital and
warned: "It could be potentially life-threatening."
Some hospitals such as Colchester General Hospital have
not been directly targeted but are protecting their IT systems
by completely shutting them down as a precaution.
Prime Minister Theresa May said there was no evidence
patient records had been compromised.
Other organisations in up to 74 countries have also fallen
victim, including Spanish telecommunications firm
Telefonica and Portugal Telecom. Tens of thousands of
computers are thought to be affected worldwide.
NHS Digital, which runs the health service's IT systems,
believes it has identified the malware software known as
WannaCry, also known as Wanna Decryptor, which appears
to be requesting $300 from victims to decrypt their
computers.
"At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data
has been accessed," NHS Digital said, adding that it will
"continue to work with affected organisations to confirm
this".
"NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber
Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England
to support affected organisations and to recommend
appropriate mitigations.
"This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is
affecting organisations from across a range of sectors."
Sky News producer Wil Longbottom, who was receiving
treatment at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, as
the cyberattack was under way, said: "It's pretty chaotic -
when I arrived I was told there was a 'situation' involving
major trauma with some patients being sent to other
hospitals.
"Hospital staff are rushed off their feet as they have to take
blood tests by hand to other departments from A&E, and
they can't access medical records or check information."
The incident has also reached Scotland, where half of the
health boards have been affected by the attack.
NHS Lanarkshire said only patients who required emergency
treatment should go to hospital while the problem was
being investigated.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland's biggest board, as
well as NHS Tayside, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS
Forth Valley said some of their GP surgeries had been
affected.
NHS Western Isles, NHS Fife and NHS Borders also said they
had, to some degree, been disrupted.
The ransomware software appears to have incorporated
code developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA),
which was made public earlier this year by a group calling
itself the Shadow Brokers.
NHS organisations have had since March to patch the
vulnerabilities which were made public as a result of the
Shadow Brokers' online dump of NSA hacking tools.
service into meltdown with operations cancelled and GP
surgeries closed.
Non-emergency procedures have been suspended and
ambulances are being diverted as part of what is now
believed to be a co-ordinated attack targeting dozens of
countries.
The IT systems of 23 NHS organisations in England and
Scotland, including many trusts and hospitals, have been
affected by the ransomware attack.
The attacks involve malicious software blocking victims from
accessing data and demanding a ransom in exchange for
access being returned.
One junior doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, told
Sky News the hackers had "stopped access to everything,
including patients' medical records" at their hospital and
warned: "It could be potentially life-threatening."
Some hospitals such as Colchester General Hospital have
not been directly targeted but are protecting their IT systems
by completely shutting them down as a precaution.
Prime Minister Theresa May said there was no evidence
patient records had been compromised.
Other organisations in up to 74 countries have also fallen
victim, including Spanish telecommunications firm
Telefonica and Portugal Telecom. Tens of thousands of
computers are thought to be affected worldwide.
NHS Digital, which runs the health service's IT systems,
believes it has identified the malware software known as
WannaCry, also known as Wanna Decryptor, which appears
to be requesting $300 from victims to decrypt their
computers.
"At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data
has been accessed," NHS Digital said, adding that it will
"continue to work with affected organisations to confirm
this".
"NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber
Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England
to support affected organisations and to recommend
appropriate mitigations.
"This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is
affecting organisations from across a range of sectors."
Sky News producer Wil Longbottom, who was receiving
treatment at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, as
the cyberattack was under way, said: "It's pretty chaotic -
when I arrived I was told there was a 'situation' involving
major trauma with some patients being sent to other
hospitals.
"Hospital staff are rushed off their feet as they have to take
blood tests by hand to other departments from A&E, and
they can't access medical records or check information."
The incident has also reached Scotland, where half of the
health boards have been affected by the attack.
NHS Lanarkshire said only patients who required emergency
treatment should go to hospital while the problem was
being investigated.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland's biggest board, as
well as NHS Tayside, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS
Forth Valley said some of their GP surgeries had been
affected.
NHS Western Isles, NHS Fife and NHS Borders also said they
had, to some degree, been disrupted.
The ransomware software appears to have incorporated
code developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA),
which was made public earlier this year by a group calling
itself the Shadow Brokers.
NHS organisations have had since March to patch the
vulnerabilities which were made public as a result of the
Shadow Brokers' online dump of NSA hacking tools.
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