Fifth cyber incident in a week under investigation

Cyber security teams are investigating the fifth suspected attack on the NHS to have taken place last week.

HSJ can reveal Medway Community Health shut down some systems last week after suspicious activity.

The incident comes after declared cyber incidents at Alder Hey Children’s Foundation Trust, Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital last week.

Last week also saw the end of an incident from a fortnight ago at Wirral University Teaching Hospital FT.

The three NW trusts with an ongoing incident last week said in a statement: “Criminals gained unlawful access to data through a digital gateway service hosted by Alder Hey. This digital gateway is shared by Alder Hey and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

“This has resulted in the attacker unlawfully getting access to systems containing data from Alder Hey Children’s, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, and a small amount of data from Royal Liverpool University Hospital. We have launched an investigation which is still ongoing to determine the full facts around what data has been obtained unlawfully.”

The trusts would not confirm how many patient records had been accessed online, but said “we do not believe the data published or accessed unlawfully relates to children and young people”.

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Source: HSJ, 9 December 2024