Ransomware attack on England’s health system highlights life-threatening impact of cybercrime
The National Health Service in England is urging people with universal blood types to donate after a ransomware attack disrupted hospitals’ ability to match patients — underlining how cyberattacks can have serious and potentially life-threatening impacts.
On June 3, hackers targeted pathology services provider Synnovis with ransomware. Ransomware attacks encrypt a company’s computer system, rendering it inoperable until the victim pays a fee.
The attack on Synnovis severely impacted several London hospitals serving two million people, prompting them to declare a critical incident and cancel cancer surgeries and blood transfusions.
On its website Monday, the National Health Service (NHS) explained the attack meant that “affected hospitals cannot currently match patients’ blood at the same frequency as usual” and that stocks of O positive and O negative blood need to be replenished as the hospitals lack the ability to quickly match patients to their correct blood type.
O positive is the most common blood type and can be provided to anyone who has a positive blood type, while O negative, known as the universal blood type, can be tolerated by patients of all blood types and is especially helpful in time-sensitive emergencies.
“NHS staff are continuing to go above and beyond to minimize the significant disruption to patients following the ransomware cyberattack on Synnovis,” Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said in a statement, encouraging the public to book one of the 13,000 appointments available across the U.K. “To help London staff support and treat more patients, they need access to O negative and O positive blood.”
Ransomware attacks linked to deaths
Hospitals and other health-care providers are targeted by ransomware gangs because disruptions to life-saving treatments can increase the pressure to pay criminals, cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse said. “As we are seeing with the NHS case in the U.K., everything is put on hold, and if you have a medical condition that is time-critical, then it puts you in a bad spot.”
Hospitals across Canada have been targeted by ransomware gangs for years — a cyberattack last year impacted five hospitals in southwestern Ontario at once.
The effects of cyberattacks can be serious. Experts also believe they have a body count: A 2023 study by researchers at the University of Minnesota estimated that between 42 and 67 Medicare patients died as a result of delayed care due to ransomware attacks between 2016 and 2021.
Waterhouse, who is based in Quebec, said the findings of the 2023 study didn’t surprise him. “It’s an indirect cause of death, because the information systems were not available, and they were not able to be taken care of in a timely manner,” he said. “That is a big problem.”
The gang behind the NHS ransomware attack is suspected to be Qilin, a Russian-speaking entity. Ransomware groups like Qilin operate almost like startups, offering their software as a service to affiliates that carry out attacks. Many gangs are believed to operate in Russia, so they are likely to remain outside the reach of Western law enforcement.
Synnovis CEO Mark Dollar said in a statement on June 4 that the London-based provider is working with law enforcement and that he is “incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and upset this is causing to patients, service users and anyone else affected.”
In the absence of legal justice, Waterhouse said this is another reminder that anyone who uses the internet — from hospitals to companies to individual users — must be prepared to recover from a ransomware attack because they are no longer theoretical or even rare.
“It is becoming a global problem for everyone, and everyone has to pitch in to enhance the environment so it’s a little bit more secure,” he said.
McMaster University Prof. Andrea Zeffiro, who focuses on critical data studies, says vulnerable communities are more likely to be impacted by the attack that’s suspended Hamilton services for over a week.
Published at Tue, 11 Jun 2024 08:00:00 +0000
UN Security Council endorses U.S.-backed resolution for Gaza ceasefire
The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved its first resolution endorsing a ceasefire plan aimed at ending the eight-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The U.S.-sponsored resolution welcomes a ceasefire proposal announced by President Joe Biden that the United States says Israel has accepted. It calls on the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which initially said it viewed the proposal “positively,” to accept the three-phase plan.
The resolution — which was approved overwhelmingly with 14 of the 15 Security Council members voting in favour and Russia abstaining — also calls on Israel and Hamas “to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
Hamas responded to the adoption by saying it welcomed the resolution and was ready to work with mediators in indirect negotiations with Israel to implement it.
The statement was among the strongest from Hamas to date but stressed the group would continue “our struggle” to end the Israeli occupation and work on setting up a “fully sovereign” Palestinian state.
‘Fighting could stop today’
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan was present for the vote, but did not address the council. Instead, senior Israeli UN diplomat Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly told the body that Israel’s goals in Gaza had always been clear.
“Israel is committed to these goals — to free all the hostages, to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future,” she said. “It is Hamas that is preventing this war from ending. Hamas and Hamas alone.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the UN, said after the vote that the council “sent a clear message to Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal on the table,” reiterating that Israel has accepted the deal, which is supported by countries around the world.
“The fighting could stop today, if Hamas would do the same,” she told the council. “I repeat, this fighting could stop today.”
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters earlier on Monday that the U.S. wanted all 15 Security Council members to support what he described as “the best, most realistic opportunity to bring at least a temporary halt to this war.”
Whether Israel and Hamas agree to the three-phase ceasefire plan remains in question, but the resolution’s strong support in the UN’s most powerful body puts added pressure on both parties to approve the proposal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Biden presented only parts of the proposal and insisted that any talk of a permanent ceasefire before dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities is a non-starter.
The United Nations Security Council has endorsed Washington’s proposed ceasefire plan aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The resolution was approved overwhelmingly with 14 of the 15 Council members voting in favour. Russia abstained.
The leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who met in Qatar on Monday to discuss the proposed ceasefire deal, said in a statement afterward that any agreement must lead to a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza, reconstruction and “a serious exchange deal” between hostages in Gaza and Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The war was sparked on Oct. 7 by a surprise Hamas-led militant attack in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 others taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 36,700 Palestinians and wounded in excess of 83,000 others, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has also destroyed about 80 per cent of Gaza’s buildings, according to the UN.
Health officials in Gaza say at least 274 people have been killed in an Israeli hostage rescue operation in central Gaza. Israel says it safely extracted four hostages, but the high civilian death toll has prompted international condemnation and Israeli minister Benny Gantz’s resignation.
Published at Mon, 10 Jun 2024 21:30:34 +0000
