NHS Trusts have been granted a six-month delay to completing crucial cyber security resilience checks while resources are rechanneled into handling the coronavirus outbreak.
The health service's recently established digital transformation body NHSX has given organisations a reprieve to complete their annual cyber security checklists so it doesn’t interfere with the healthcare service's COVID-19 response plans.
Health and care organisations are expected to submit a data security and protection toolkit (DSPT) each year to ensure their systems and databases are hack-proof. It’s especially important given how frequent attacks against healthcare organisations have become.
DSPTs were originally meant to be completed by the end of the month, but organisations now have until 30 September 2020 to complete their DSPT checklists. They are, however, welcome to complete these beforehand, at which point they’ll be awarded ‘Standards Met’ status as normal.
This has given organisations the space to commit additional resources to clinical response to coronavirus, and away from completing the checklist, if need-be.
“It is critically important that the NHS and Social Care remains resilient to cyber attacks during this period of COVID-19 response,” NHSX has told health and care organisations.
“Whilst the DSPT submission deadline is being relaxed to account for COVID-19, the cyber security risk remains high. All organisations must continue to maintain their patching regimes.”
The cyber threat facing the NHS, and other organisations, has never been greater. Any attacks launched against Trusts over the next few months, in the mould of the infamous WannaCry attack of 2017 for instance, could result in significant patient harm with services and systems already stretched.
Hackers have already started exploiting the outbreak to further their malicious aims, according to Reuters, with attackers posing as the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in order to launch phishing attempts, for instance.
Two of the most widely-used trojans against healthcare organisations in 2019 were Emotet and TrickBot. All eyes will be on cyber attackers over the next few months, to determine whether or not they’ll continue to launch attacks against healthcare organisations struggling to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak.
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
NHS supplier hit with £3m fine for security failings that led to attackNews Advanced Computer Software Group lacked MFA, comprehensive vulnerability scanning and proper patch management
-
Cyber attack delayed cancer treatment at NHS hospital
News A cyber attack at Wirral University Teaching Hospital in 2024 delayed critical cancer treatment for patients, documents show.
-
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital confirms hackers gained access to patient data through digital gateway serviceNews Europe’s busiest children’s hospital confirmed attackers were able to steal data from a compromised digital gateway service
-
Major incident declared as Merseyside hospitals hit by cyber attackNews The incident, which has led to cancelled appointments, is just the latest in a series of attacks on healthcare organizations
-
Thousands of procedures canceled at London hospitals as Qilin releases blood test dataNews The attack on blood testing company Synnovis continues to affect patients, while the ransomware group follows through with its threats
-
Ransomware group threatens to publish 3TB of stolen NHS Scotland data after posting proof of attackNews NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed some of the sensitive data stolen during the 15 March attack has been published by a known ransomware operator
-
Attack on third-party software vendor disrupts NHS ambulance servicesNews The ambulance services serve more than 10 million people across the south of England
-
NHS data leak raises ‘serious questions’ about Manchester University cyber attackNews NHS patient data used for research purposes is believed to have been compromised in the June attack
