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NHS



This article is more than 4 months old


FEARS FOR PATIENT DATA AFTER RANSOMWARE ATTACK ON NHS SOFTWARE SUPPLIER

This article is more than 4 months old

Attack being investigated for potential data theft as experts warn criminals
could use stolen details as leverage

Health Service Journal reported that the Carenotes patient electronic record was
affected . Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA
Health Service Journal reported that the Carenotes patient electronic record was
affected . Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

Dan Milmo and Denis Campbell
Thu 11 Aug 2022 06.01 EDTLast modified on Fri 12 Aug 2022 00.30 EDT
 * 
 * 
 * 



Patient data could have been stolen in a cyber-attack on an NHS software
supplier, experts have warned, as an internal memo reveals the incident has
badly disrupted the functioning of several key health services.

Areas of the health service affected include the 111 telephone advice service,
GP surgeries and some specialist mental health trusts.



The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and other government agencies are
trying to discover the scale of the damage caused by the incursion, amid fears
that sensitive medical information may have been taken during the process.

Advanced, which provides services for NHS 111 and patient records, confirmed
late on Wednesday it had been hit by ransomware during last week’s attack.



The UK company said it was investigating “potentially impacted data” and that it
would provide updates when it had more information about “potential data access
or exfiltration”.

The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, said it was “working with the company to fully
understand the impact, while supporting the NHS”. The attack affected 111
services across the UK.

Ministers coordinate response after cyber-attack hits NHS 111
Read more

The Information Commissioner’s Office, the data watchdog, confirmed it was aware
of the incident, which took place on Thursday 4 August, and was “making
inquiries.”

A leaked internal NHS England document, seen by the Guardian, has disclosed that
“a number of NHS services, including NHS 111, some urgent treatment centres and
some mental health providers use software that have been taken offline”.

“This presents a significant challenge to these services,” it added.

The paper also warns that fixing the IT problems created by the hack “may take
some time”. Even after Advanced brings forward a purported solution, it will
take “potentially 10-12 days” for things to return to normal.

This is due to needing “to undertake their own assurance, configure their
systems and resolve issues that may have been created by the outage”. NHS
Digital will also need to approve Advanced’s plan as “safe”, it adds.



The memo adds that 111 has a litany of problems after the attack, including:

 * The service taking longer to answer calls.

 * Handlers being unable to book a GP appointment, either at a family doctor
   surgery or access hub.

 * Being unable to book patients slots at a pharmacy, to pick up medicines, or
   with a dental care provider.

GP services may get more patients than usual because of the problems arising
from the cyber-attack, the document adds, with family doctors being asked to
manage patients themselves who they would normally tell to call the advice
service.

In addition, for staff at GP hubs, “access to patients’ NHS numbers will not be
available for the duration of this incident”, because electronic patient records
are unavailable.

However, “NHS numbers can be found retrospectively” and “GP access hubs should
accept patient referrals with no NHS number”.

The NHS Confederation said NHS staff, especially GPs, are expected to face a
massive task inputting paper notes and checking in on patients once the
disruption is over.

The internal NHS England memo said there is “currently no evidence to suggest
that patient data has been compromised”. However, it is understood that the
security of patient data is still under investigation.

Alexi Drew, an information security consultant, said the information
commissioner’s involvement indicated serious concerns about whether patient data
had been taken.

“If the ICO is involved, they have to think that there is a credible risk that
personal data has been stolen,” she said.

The Health Service Journal reported on Wednesday that a “system outage” of the
Carenotes electronic patient record – an Advanced product – had affected at
least nine NHS mental health trusts. Advanced software is used in 36 acute
trusts or mental health trusts in England, according to Digital Health
Intelligence.

The attack has also affected the Advanced Adastra system, which helps 111
administrators dispatch ambulances and is a patient management system for
emergency care.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “While Advanced has confirmed that the
incident impacting their software is ransomware, the NHS has tried and tested
contingency plans in place including robust defences to protect our own
networks, as we work with the National Cyber Security Centre to fully understand
the impact.



“The public should continue to use NHS services as normal, including NHS 111 for
those who are unwell, although some people will face longer waits than usual, as
ever if it is an emergency, please call 999.”

Alan Woodward, a professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said any
patient data on the affected Advanced systems would be at risk.

He said: “Even if it was ransomware … that doesn’t mean data was not stolen.
Ransomware has evolved to not simply encrypt the data on the users’ devices but
also to steal the data (the item of real value) and demand a ransom for its safe
return/destruction.”

Advanced said it believed it had “contained” the incident but some services
could take weeks to recover.

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7am BST


“With respect to the NHS,” it said. “We are working with them and the NCSC to
validate the additional steps we have taken, at which point the NHS will begin
to bring its services back online.

“For NHS 111 and other urgent care customers, we anticipate this phased process
to begin within the next few days.

“For other NHS customers, our current view is that it will be necessary to
maintain existing contingency plans for at least three to four more weeks.”

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MORE ON THIS STORY






MORE ON THIS STORY




 * NHS RANSOMWARE ATTACK: WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW BAD IS IT?
   
   11 Aug 2022


 * MINISTERS COORDINATE RESPONSE AFTER CYBER-ATTACK HITS NHS 111
   
   6 Aug 2022


 * MORE NHS CYBER-ATTACKS 'INEVITABLE', WARN EXPERTS
   
   16 Nov 2018


 * NHS 111 EXPECTS DELAYS AFTER CYBER-ATTACK CAUSES SYSTEM OUTAGE
   
   5 Aug 2022


 * AUTHOR OF REVIEW INTO ABORTED GP DATA SHARING IN ENGLAND OPTED OUT OF SCHEME
   
   11 May 2022


 * EVERY NHS TRUST TESTED FOR CYBERSECURITY HAS FAILED, OFFICIALS ADMIT
   
   5 Feb 2018


 * NHS DATA LOSS SCANDAL DEEPENS WITH FURTHER 162,000 FILES MISSING
   
   16 Oct 2017


 * NHS DATA LOSS SCANDAL HAS PROMPTED FIVE INQUIRIES, MINISTERS SAY
   
   13 Mar 2017
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