Limited funding restricts protection

A Dundee hacking expert has warned public bodies with limited IT funds remain susceptible to cyber attacks similar to the one which crippled the NHS last week.

Ten Dundee medical centres were hit by the worldwide attack, causing severe disruption to patient services.

Surgeries including Hawkhill Medical Centre were struck by the Wannacry decryptor ransomware worm, which prevented doctors and medical staff from being able to use their computers.

IT technicians spent hours over the weekend trying to stem the problem and the 10 affected medical practices were open as usual yesterday morning.

Colin McLean, a lecturer in ethical hacking at Abertay University, said local councils and the NHS remain “stuck between a rock and a hard place” when trying to defend themselves against online attacks, due to the constant need to upgrade computer systems.

He said: “The Wannacry worm is a very uncommon type of virus. The last time I heard about a remote exploit which could break into a computer was 2008.

“Updating operating systems will stop this exploit in the short term. It is very difficult for the NHS and public bodies in the long term because of the old technology used by these bodies, and if you update the operating systems on some of these machines, they won’t work.

“The alternative is to pay someone to design an application or patch, which two years from now may or may not be out of date. It is an incredibly complex problem for public bodies who have limited funds.”

An NHS Tayside spokesperson said: “All 10 GP practices affected by the cyber attack are now operating as normal.”

Lecturer Colin McLean says it is a complex problem.