Janice R. Andrews
According to a cybersecurity expert, a group of cybercriminals from Russia was responsible for the attack on pathology services that affected multiple large hospitals in London.
The hack that affected planned NHS services on Tuesday was most likely carried out by a group of thieves known as Qilin, according to Ciaran Martin, the former CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre. A “major IT incident” affected pathology partner Synnovis, according to memos sent to NHS employees at King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ (which includes the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital), and primary care services in the capital.
Because of this, some operations and procedures have been postponed or transferred to other NHS providers as hospital administrators continue to assess what work can be done safely.
“These criminal outfits, of which there are many, operate openly from Russia. They have websites on the so-called dark web, they go by well-known identities, and this specific group has been assaulting different organizations all around the world for the past two years. Automotive businesses, the Big Issue in the UK, and Australian courts have all been targeted by them. All they’re after is money, as Martin clarified.
He went on to say that it is “unlikely” that the Russian hackers would have understood when they launched their attack that it would seriously impact basic healthcare. “There are two types of ransomware attack,” he clarified. There are two situations when someone steals a lot of data and tries to scare you into paying to keep it hidden, but this one is not like that. This kind of ransomware is more dangerous since it causes the system to completely crash. That’s why it’s so disruptive if you work in healthcare in this trust because you simply aren’t getting those results.
Worldwide, healthcare has been impacted by this kind of ransomware. It’s especially harmful in the US, and this kind of cyberattack differs from others in that it has an effect on people’s access to healthcare. Therefore, it’s actually among the worst that this nation has seen.
It was declared in 2021 that SynLab and the NHS would collaborate to provide pathology services at hospitals and general practitioners’ offices throughout southeast London. In addition to King’s, Guy’s, and St. Thomas’, the pathology department serves the NHS Foundation Trusts in South London, Maudsley, and Oxleas, as well as a large number of general practitioners’ offices, clinics, and other community services located in the boroughs of Bromley, Lambeth, and Southwark.
The incident on Monday is “having a significant impact” on the provision of services at Guy’s and St. Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and primary care services in south-east London, according to a spokesman for NHS England London region.
“With the assistance of our cyber operations team and the National Cyber Security Centre of the Government, we are working quickly to fully understand the impact of the incident.”
