Ireland’s Health System Victim of Ransomware Attack, Completely Shuts Down

The News: Reuters reported on May 13, 2020 that Ireland’s health service announced it was completely shutting down all IT after experiencing a “significant” ransomware attack. This attack was blamed on threat actors targeting healthcare records. This attack has completely shut down COVID-19 testing, has forced hospitals to cancel not urgent appointments, and shut down diagnostic services.  More from Reuters. Ireland’s Health System Victim of Ransomware Attack, Completely Shuts Down Analyst Take: Ireland’s Health Service system made the decision to shut down all IT systems to protect from the attack and also to allow the thorough assessment of the extent of the damage. In what is a ‘zero day’ attack, meaning the software maker has zero days to be aware of and remedy a problem, threat actors exploited a previously unknown software vulnerability. The attack targeted computers storing patient records. HSE reported that patient data hadn’t been compromised and that equipment was operating as needed, except for radiography services. The hospital quickly made the switch to paper records, but as of the initial reporting hospitals shared they were unable to access lists of patients scheduled for appointments in the coming week and operations might continue to be limited and/or in some instances shut down. Hospitals all over the country are affected by this ransomware attack, including a hospital in Dublin that was reported limiting admissions to pregnant women who are at least 36 weeks pregnant and emergency cases only. This on the heels of the attack on Belgium last week shows that cyber threats are everywhere.