HOSPITALS
“ This disruption to patient care has made it clear how dependent the NHS is on information technology ”
WILLIAM SMART CIO , NHS
Critical medical devices and equipment – such as MRI scanners and blood test analysis devices – were also affected . Since then , there has been a widespread view that the NHS is vulnerable to other serious attacks . As the Chief Information Officer of the health and social care system , William Smart , said in a review of the incident .
“ This disruption to patient care has made it even clearer how dependent the NHS is on information technology and , as a result , the need for security improvements to be made across the service … WannaCry has made clear the need for the NHS to step up efforts with cyber security so that every possible protection is taken to defend against a future attack .”
Rather than impose a ‘ one-size-fits-all ’ top-down solution , Smart said the answer lay in proportionate measures for individual trusts and organisations to implement . The review found that most trusts that were assessed needed to upgrade firewalls , improve network resilience and segmentation , improve device security through device replacement and automation of patch management , and improve anti-virus protection .
More recent high-profile attacks affecting the healthcare sector include :
• In May 2021 , Ireland ’ s Health and Safety Executive was hit with a malware attack by the hacking group Conti , which claimed to have stolen 700GB of patient data , disabling many computers and devices
• An attack in New Zealand in May 2021 , which disabled the information systems of five different hospitals
• In September 2020 , some 400 hospitals and healthcare facilities in the United States and UK lost access to patient records , resulting in delayed patient care and ambulances being rerouted , with the disruption lasting three weeks
• In October 2021 , the Hillel Yaffe Medical Centre in Hadera , Israel , where some patients had to be diverted to alternative facilities , according to local media
healthcareglobal . com 27