Cyberattacks have always been thought to be disruptive and expensive, but a horrific incident in the U.K. has highlighted the very real and deadly impact of cyber warfare on critical infrastructure.
In a terrifying turn of events, a ransomware attack that disabled NHS blood services in London has now been directly connected to the death of a hospital patient.
Ransomware Attack on NHS Blood Services Turns Deadly
UK Cyberattack Leads to Patient’s Death Amid Blood Test Delays
Judy Beth Morris/Unsplash
The June 2024 cyberattack crippled pathology services run by Synnovis, an NHS partner between hospitals and clinics in London. The Russian state hacker group Qilin was behind the attack, which caused more than 1,000 surgeries and outpatient procedures to be canceled, according to Digital Trends.
Over 10,000 medical operations were affected, with a severe lack of O-type blood supply reported in several healthcare facilities.
In an internal review, the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust verified that the attack had a disastrous impact. Among several failures listed, a delay in receiving blood test results from the system failure was identified as a factor in a patient’s death.
“The patient safety incident investigation identified a number of contributing factors that led to the patient’s death,” a Trust spokesperson told the BBC.
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400GB of Patient Data Leaked Online
Aside from its operational impact, the ransomware attack resulted in a gigantic compromise of private healthcare data. Almost 400 gigabytes of sensitive information, including patient names, NHS ID numbers, and laboratory test results, were hacked and dumped on the dark web.
Although putting out a statement to the BBC stating it had “regret” over the result, Qilin denied responsibility. The hacking collective stated the attack was a “political protest” against unspecified actions by the U.K. government, avoiding blame for the actual destruction its actions had wrought.
Demand for NHS Cybersecurity Policies
The news has already triggered an immediate demand from doctors and cyber experts for a strong, independent examination of computer security procedures across the NHS.
Dr. Saif Abed, a former doctor with the NHS and a current cybersecurity and public health consultant, warned that the patient’s death could be only the tip of the iceberg.
He is now calling on the U.K. government to establish an independent health service review of healthcare cybersecurity and patient safety, contending that a lack of investment in digital infrastructure is costing lives.
A Rising Trend of Fatal Cyberattacks in Healthcare
A patient’s condition hangs between life and death. Even a digital error, including a widespread hack, could affect the person’s condition. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry has been dealt the biggest blow in recent years.
The hackers target the life-saving systems to hack the patients’ data, which they could use to scam other victims. It’s about time for the healthcare industry to pay attention to this alarming trend and strengthen its cybersecurity defenses to avoid cases such as this.
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