The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
North Korea blamed for hacking attacks on NHS IT systems
Health boards confirm level of attempted attacks ‘thousands a month’
Cyber attacks launched by North Korea have been accused of trying to cripple Scotland’s NHS.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 online attacks are attempted on NHS Tayside’s IT systems every month, according to figures released today.
The insular communist state run by dictator Kim Jong-un has been blamed for an attack on systems at NHS Borders.
Despite infiltrating computers there, the health board say the full extent of what damage has been done is still to be determined.
Earlier this year, the UK Government blamed the Wannacry virus – which crippled computers in doctors surgeries across Dundee in 2017 – on the nucleararmed state.
NHS Fife was subjected to 47 successful hacks, while NHS Lanarkshire was forced to contact police over some of the 62 attacks it experienced.
In the Hebrides, the Locky malware got behind defences at the Western Isles hospital.
Scottish Conservative chief whip Maurice Golden said: “These revelations show even Scotland’s NHS isn’t safe from global hackers.
“Patients will be alarmed that their sensitive data is being pursued by North Korean hackers.
“Thankfully, it seems our health service is well-equipped to repel these attacks, and that’s a tribute to the IT teams working hard to keep our personal information safe.
“But there’s no room for complacency and hackers across the world are getting better all the time at attacking these systems.”
Responding to a freedom of information request on computer attacks, a spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “It is not possible for NHS Tayside to give exact figures for attempted attacks (over the last five years) but our security products successfully detect and remove around 5-7,000 attacks a month.”
The FOI figures, compiled by the Scottish Conservatives, reveal 117 successful hacks of NHS systems since 2014.
Mr Golden added the true number is likely to be even higher as some health boards didn’t hold the necessary data.
The Courier reported earlier this year a team of Russian hackers branded the world’s “most harmful cyber crime group” has been accused of carrying out malware attacks which targeted Scottish football fans and caused chaos at NHS boards.
An unprecedented collaboration between the National Crime Agency (NCA), the FBI and the National Cyber Security Centre has exposed the lavish lifestyle of the man allegedly behind Evil Corp, a group that created and deployed malware causing hundreds of millions of pounds of financial damage in the UK.
Maksim Yakubets, 32, has been indicted in the United States in relation to two separate international computer hacking and bank fraud schemes, which employed dozens of people working from the basement of Moscow cafés.