NHS Hospitals hit by massive cyber attack

[user1491572121]

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/12/hospitals-across-england-hit-by-large-scale-cyber-attack?CMP=fb_gu

My NHS trust (Northumbria) is affected.

Around 1400 hrs today we got an email from IT for everyone to shut down their computers with immediate effect as under attack from major security breach.

This will have dire consequences for patient care - clinics will be cancelled, operations cancellation, delays in results.

My department was sent home early as literally unable to do anything without a PC. Yes paper notes are held - but how can you locate where they are in the trust when you are unable to access the PAS system and casenote tracker?

Absolutely disgusting.

A lot of businesses have been affected, apparently, but they're keeping quiet about it. The thing is, paperless systems are massively more efficient than paper records. But you do have to have proper security and business continuity processes in place.

Its a stupid user clicking on links that they shouldn't have and inviting them onto the network/

Nothing sinister, nothing new in the form of attack.

It's nothing more than a PEBCAK issue

It's not really surprising, though - the NHS is the fifth or sixth largest employer in the world- presumably a very tempting target for attack, and vulnerable because of its size. I feel for the poor devils stuck waiting to be taken care of, in whichever way, and the poor staff trying to cope in the chaos.

to all those working in the NHS who are stressed out to the max dealing with this.

Justanotherlurker this was a deliberate attack timed on a Friday afternoon when they KNOW A and E will be busy tonight with ppl who have drunk too much.

Justanotherlurker this was a deliberate attack timed on a Friday afternoon when they KNOW A and E will be busy tonight with ppl who have drunk too much.

No it wasn't, it was a stupid user and lax security re data transfer internally

www.ccn-cert.cni.es/seguridad-al-dia/comunicados-ccn-cert/4464-ataque-masivo-de-ransomware-que-afecta-a-un-elevado-numero-de-organizaciones-espanolas.html

My hospital has been affected too.
I am heavily pregnant, hoping I don't go into labour now! Friend had an appt there earlier which had been cancelled.

When my son was in hospital last year he needed an X-ray, for some reason they weren't transferring from Rad to ED (just an error in those departments not a hack) in the normal manner, so each Dr was having to walk back and forth between departments to check the X-Ray as they are now only digital images in our local hospital. This went on for around 2-3 hours and it was clear they couldn't keep up with the issues it was causing.
When I worked in ED we had issues in our system for a week with bed transfers and it was utter bedlam, I can't begin to imagine how taxing this must be for staff and patients.

They received an email entitled Clinical Results. Easy mistake. Windows XP is vulnerable and many councils, nhs and public services still run on it. They reckon the spread to the nhs was a fluke. What dark net twat would want the NCSC on their case? Their BC plans should include catastrophic IT failure, they just need to see if it works. I doubt they have tested it though.

I work in a GP surgery. Unable to access anything this afternoon. Didn't the screen message seen on the news but we were told to shut everything down sharpish when we contacted service desk to find out why the smart card system1 logging in wasn't working. Eerily quiet for a Friday. No idea what will happen on Monday.

What dark net twat would want the NCSC on their case?

It is not some "dark net twat" there is no conspiracy, it is nothing more than some user inadvertently clicking on a dodgy download link.

Spam filters should have taken it out before hand, but it's nothing more than a stupid user/stupid network admin, shit happens, there is no clandestine scenario going on here, stop trying to hype it up.

There's something seriously wrong with NHS systems if this can cause this much carnage

There's something seriously wrong with NHS systems if this can cause this much carnage

Not really its a new variant on the samba worm, I would imagine that the entire NHS IT department is fully aware of the problem and warned anyone that will listen.

Most organisations would fall foul to this sort of attack, most organisations have old business critical systems running because there is no budget or appetite to update/remove them.

I have machines running windows 95 in my company, why? Because we have software that requires windows 95 to run. We know it's a gaping huge security hole but it's business critical and we, apparently, can't run the company without it.

Non-IT managers will always see IT as a cost until something goes wrong... then it's all the IT Departments fault anyway.

A stupid user can bring down a network.

I don't understand why they don't just pay. It's only £230. Am I missing something?

For me there is a combo of things - 1. why hadn't the patch released in March been run 2. Where is the BC plan and why wasn't it enacted 3. On such critical systems such as transfer of results etc why are they not locked down and separated from external influence

Poor Risk Management and Business Continuity planning is a General Management Failure not IT, and I am not even in IT!!

Elle - whats to stop them doing it again and again for 230 quid per infected piece of hardware.......... and whose slush fund in the NHS are these multiple charges coming from...

Sorry but that's ridiculous using windows 95. Can't you just use comparability mode to run old software? That's what I've seen others do.

Spam filters should have taken it out before hand, but it's nothing more than a stupid user/stupid network admin, shit happens, there is no clandestine scenario going on here, stop trying to hype it up.

That's actually quite offensive. When you have multiple applications open, have multiple 'jobs in hand' as you do, and are waiting for an urgent report from a different trust and and email arrives with an attachment with one 's' or one '.' different to the legitimate? No, it's not a stupid user ffs. We are regularly reminded not to click on unknown links. When the links have the difference with a small capital letter and a Capital? Damn right someone who isn't 'thick' could click.

Lets not blame anyone here bar the hackers yes?

I don't know anything about how hacking works so not commenting on that.

Our surgery in South London was affected. I took my dd in for an appointment this afternoon. Doctor had to write her prescription on a post it note with the surgery stamp at the bottom. Luckily chemist was aware and gave us the medicine. They also know us and that dd has this medication though.

I have machines running windows 95 in my company, why? Because we have software that requires windows 95 to run.

this, or similar might be the case with 'old' nhs workstations. some complex program that only runs under certain systems that won't work with modern ones. think all the imaging, complex databases... 'niche' programmes anywhere else (to software developers) but not in health care settings.

O dear!, the NHS and IT don't get on that well do they?.

WIN XP machines?, more recent ones that haven't had the update patches people still clicking on e-mails they don't recognize the sender from and they still use Windoze machines but could use Linux.

I'm not sure about my colleagues, but at home and at work I would never click from an email I don't recognise.

What I do know is we are regularly reminded of the above from IT - as I've explained - it doesn't take someone 'thick' or 'stupid' to click on a link from what looks like a recognised email address with something so different as a full stop.

I'm in a high pressure job and unfortunately things so subtle as a 'dot' in an address can be a breach. I've worked in the NHS for 13 years and this is the first time this has happened. So not inept security, not some 'stupid or thick' user.

The hackers are more sophisticated as admitted by the NCSC - there really is non-one to blame but the hackers.

I know the chap interviewed by the BBC, FT & Daily Mail who was ready to go to theatre for heart surgery but had his op cancelled. This is so cruel.

Has anyone seen (I would like to see) a screenshot of the email(s) that kicked this off... the ones entitled "Clinical Results" ? Thieving rotten scumbags who send these things out.

Friends who work at the Nissan were sent home last night, as the computers shut down and lines stopped running, its suspected Nissan have been hacked. This is the NE.