An Indian-Origin London-based doctor reportedly had warned against the recent cyber-hack of the UK's state-run National Health Services, two days before it hit the entire network. In an article published in the British Medical Journal, Neurology Registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Dr Krishna Chinthapalli alerted that major number of hospitals could be shut down by ransomware attacks, highlighting the vulnerability of the NHS network.
He noted an incident at Papworth Hospital near Cambridge where a nurse clicked on a malicious link and malware infected her computer and began to encrypt sensitive files. He wrote, “Fortunately, the hospital's daily data backup had just been completed. The IT director admitted that they were very lucky, saying, 'Timing absolutely was everything for us'. We should be prepared: more hospitals will almost certainly be shut down by ransomware this year.” 45 organisations of the NHS network from London to Scotland, was hit by a large-scale cyber-hack by an international criminal gang last week, throwing the entire system off track. Patients of the state-funded currently face chaos with appointments and surgeries being cancelled.
Head of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin said his team was doing everything in its capacity. “We are very aware that attacks on critical services such as the NHS have a massive impact on individuals and their families, and we are doing everything in our power to help them restore these vital services. It's important to understand that cyber attacks can be different from other forms of crime in that their sometimes highly technical and anonymous nature means it can take some time to understand how it worked, who was behind it and what the impact is.”
Currently, severely ill patients are being diverted to unaffected hospitals. Ambulances are also being diverted from affected hospitals to others. The largest trust in the country, London's Barts Health NHS Trust cancelled all outpatient appointments at five of its hospitals.
