NHS to spend £150m on cyber-security
THE NHS is to spend £150 million on cyber-security to protect it from attacks such as last year’s WannaCry incident.
The Department of Health and Social Care has signed a new contract with Microsoft to enhance security intelligence, with individual trusts having the ability to detect threats, isolate infected machines and kill malicious processes before they are able to spread.
The move was announced by Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who described cyber-attacks as a “growing threat”.
The new security package will ensure all health and care organisations can use the most up-todate software with the latest security settings.
The measures mean that health and social care services regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will have new powers to inspect NHS trusts on their cyber and data security capabilities.
The deal is the latest in a series of measures to strengthen cyber-security in the NHS since the WannaCry attack in May last year, which saw data on infected computers encrypted and users issued with a ransom demand to unlock their devices.
A total of 80 of 236 NHS trusts across England suffered disruption because they were either infected by the ransomware or had turned off their devices or systems as a precaution. The ransomware infected another 603 NHS organisations including 595 GP practices.