By Emmanuel Nduka
On Tuesday, major London hospitals were forced to cancel some operations on Tuesday after a cyber-attack on a key service supplier had a “major impact”, particularly on blood transfusions, the National Health Service (NHS) said.
The attack on pathology partner Synnovis hit King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ in the centre of the British capital.
“On Monday 3 June Synnovis, a provider of lab services, was the victim of a ransomware cyber attack.
“This is having a significant impact on the delivery of services at Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and primary care services,” a spokesperson for NHS England, London region said.
Ian Abbs, CEO of Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, earlier wrote in a staff memo that the attack was “having a major impact on the delivery of our services, with blood transfusions being particularly affected.
“Some activity has already been cancelled or redirected to other providers,” he added.
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) trade publication reported that it could take “weeks, not days” to access pathology results, according to a senior source.
Past Cyber Attacks In The UK
Heritage Times HT recalls that in 2023, a cybersecurity firm, Armis Security, found that nearly one in six devices on hospital networks in England were not monitored for cybersecurity risks.
The firm also discovered that one in five hospitals used spreadsheets to manually track devices added to their networks.
Also in 2017, the “WannaCry” malware attack affected hospitals across the UK, including many using discontinued Windows XP.
The attack potentially put lives at risk by paralyzing computers at state-run medical facilities, as thousands of operations and appointments had to be canceled as the malware threatened to delete crucial files unless ransoms were paid.
