NHS trusts have been told to firm up their cybersecurity amid fears of a Russian attack in retaliation to Western interference in the war in Ukraine.
Health chiefs have written to hospitals telling them to make it their ‘focus’ to keep their systems secure and make sure backups are in place.
There have been widespread concerns about the technological resilience of the NHS which only last year stopped using fax machines.
It was famously hacked in 2017 in the WannaCry attack, which brought the whole health service to a standstill for days and cost the UK £92million.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, told a summit today that cyber-security was being brought to the ‘forefront’ in the wake of the situation in Ukraine.
She added the health service was examining its supply chain resilience in the event of a Kremlin attack here or elsewhere.
Security officials fear the NHS, government, and business could be prime targets for Moscow, which has one of the world’s most sophisticated cyber capabilities.
Russia is said to be furious at the British decision to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons systems and impose tough sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his cronies.
It comes after it emerged that nearly a dozen trusts paid the Russian government-owned energy supplier Gazprom £ 4 million in the past financial year.
NHS trusts have been told to firm up their cybersecurity amid fears of a Russian attack in retaliation to Western interference in the war in Ukraine (stock)
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, told a summit that cyber-security was being brought to the ‘forefront’ in the wake of the situation in Ukraine
Ms Pritchard, speaking at the Nuffield Trust Summit Series virtual conference, also revealed the NHS was looking into sending medical supplies to Ukrainian hospitals.
Asked about what the conflict means for the NHS, Ms Pritchard said: ‘The first thing is support for our staff who are from Ukraine.
‘But I’m also talking about wider support for all of our staff including anybody from Eastern Europe or Russia.
‘We have had an outpouring of support locally for people whose families might be affected by this or who are worried themselves…
‘So the more that we can do to provide both practical and emotional support for staff who are affected by this, that’s got to be top of mind.
She added: ‘Part of what we have been doing is looking at things like whether we have got any sort of flexibility around supplies, which we can make sure that made available to be provided over to Ukraine, particularly medical supplies that can be used to for casualties.
‘That’s something that is being done by Government, so (we are) playing a role in that and that as well.’
On cyber security, Ms Pritchard said: ‘We have written out to the NHS, a lot of it is just a good practice about what you should be doing around cybersecurity, but again, this just kind of brings it to the forefront.
‘And I think for those organizations who are still just working through some patching and other things, [we’re] just encouraging people to make that the focus at the moment.’
A bulletin sent out to NHS trusts today ordered them to ‘further strengthen cybersecurity resilience’.
It states: ‘Following Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the National Cyber Security Centre has called on organizations in the UK to bolster their online defenses.
‘Further guidance will be issued to NHS technical teams this week, and we ask that leaders support their teams to undertake priority activities to further strengthen cybersecurity resilience.
‘NHS leaders should confirm with their local teams that systems are patched and protected, and that immutable backups are in place.
‘The National Cyber Security Centre has issued guidance for organizations to take during periods when the cyber threat is heightened.
‘Please ensure your organization is following this guidance.’
It comes after the Health Service Journal reported that at least 11 trusts paid just over £4m to Gazprom in 2021, most of them based in the North West of England.
Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust paid 1.78m to Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd during the 2021-22 financial year.
That was more than triple the amount of any other trust included in the analysis.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust paid the company nearly £470,000 at the same time and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay spent £380,000 on Russian gas.
The analysis relies on trusts publishing their data so the actual number supplied by Gazprom could be higher.
There are a total of 223 trusts in England and the NHS is thought to spend well over £100m a year on gas.
It is unclear if the trusts made the purchases from Gazprom directly or via a national procurement system.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk