THREAT OF NEW CYBER BLITZ ON NHS
THOUSANDS of operations are set to be cancelled for weeks as experts yesterday warned another NHS cyber attack could be imminent – possibly even today.
The alert came as the hunt continued for the Bitcoin Bandits – named after the online ransom currency they demanded after crippling hospitals on Friday.
It remains unclear which, if any, countries have paid the ransom, but analysis of three accounts linked with the global attack suggests the hackers have already been paid £22,080.
It is understood the UK has not paid anything to the hackers who are demanding 300 dollars in bitcoins (£230) to unlock each file they have illegally encrypted.
The head of Europol yesterday revealed the extent of Friday’s attack and warned there could be worse ahead.
Rob Wainwright said the hack had now hit more than 200,000 victims in some 150 countries.
“At the moment we are in the face of an escalating threat, the numbers are going up,” he added.
“I am worried about how the numbers will continue to grow when people go to work and turn on their machines on Monday morning.
“We are running around 200 global operations against cybercrime each year but we’ve never seen anything like this.
“Many of the latest victims will be businesses, including large corporations. The global reach is unprecedented.”
Fears
Organisations round the world, including investigators from the National Crime Agency, are working non-stop to hunt down those responsible.
And health authorities are racing to upgrade security software amid fears hackers could exploit the same vulnerability with a new virus.
There have been calls for an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Friday’s major incident, with the Government and NHS chiefs facing questions over their preparedness and the robustness of vital systems.
Mr Wainwright said: “We have been concerned for some time. The healthcare centres in many countries are particularly vulnerable. They are processing a lot of sensitive data.”
A 22-year-old UK security researcher, known as MalwareTech, who accidentally helped halt the ransomware attack, also yesterday predicted another attack.
He said: “It’s very important that people patch their systems now. We have stopped this one but there will be another one and it will not be stoppable by us.
“There’s a lot of money in this. There’s no reason for them to stop. It’s not really much effort for them to change the code and then start over. So there’s a good chance they are going to do it, quite likely on Monday morning.”
He also warned that hackers could upgrade the virus to remove the internal “kill switch” that helped to stop it. The huge cyber attack, which infected more than 125,000 computer systems, has left thousands of NHS patients facing delays.
Russia, Spain, France and the UK were among the worst-hit countries.
In England, 48 NHS trusts fell victim, as did 13 NHS bodies in Scotland.
Some hospitals were forced to cancel procedures and appointments, with ambulances directed to neighbouring hospitals free from the computer virus. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said that the problem was largely resolved but conceded “there is always more” that could be done to protect against computer viruses.
NHS trusts still experiencing difficulties yesterday were Bart’s in London, East and North Hertfordshire, James Paget University Hospitals in Norfolk, Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals, Lincolnshire Hospitals, York Teaching Hospitals and University Hospital of North Midlands.