Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PSNI urging staff to be vigilant over ‘infections’
WORKERS across Ireland have been placed on high alert over cyber security. The PSNI warned some systems may already be infected and ready to activate after the weekend. Head of the force’s Cyber Crime Centre, Detective Chief Inspector Douglas Grant, said: “While no incidents have been reported in Northern Ireland as yet we do expect further infections to come to light globally over the next week. “And we cannot rule out the possibility local systems may be vulnerable. “As people return to work after the weekend many will have unopened, potentially infected emails in their inboxes, or their systems may already be infected and are waiting to activate. “It is of the utmost importance individuals and organisations act to ensure the integrity of our local cyber networks and take appropriate action to reduce the threat posed by cyber criminals.”
SECURITY
In the Republic family doctors have been advised not to use their practice computers today until they are certain their anti-virus security systems are up to date. The Health Service Executive cut its network off from external communications as a precaution after the mass hack which has spread worldwide since Friday. The decision means its facilities will be unable to receive emails from outside the organisation. HSE chief information officer Richard Corbridge said the impact on patients is unlikely to be significant because email is rarely used to communicate with them. The PSNI added the latest advice and patches are now available to protect current and older legacy systems at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/ransomware-latest-ncscguidance.