More NHS Cyber Attacks Are ‘Inevitable’

Following the news that some experts have warned that further cyber-attacks on the NHS are ‘inevitable’.

Jake Moore, Cyber Security Specialist at ESET UK:

“For an organisation like the NHS, keeping your entire systems safe and secure is not an easy task. For most companies it’s a simple case of funds & resource, but sadly in this case it’s not that easy. However it’s not all bad – knowing you need to do more and actively working towards it is a plus. We often hear tales of “attacks” on the NHS, but we need to understand that outbreaks like WannaCry were not direct attacks, they were simply a result of an opportunistic attack succeeding. Whilst this is still bad, you have to start somewhere and understanding what needs to be done is just as important as doing something about it.

It’s clearly not as simple as weighing up the benefits of a heart machine to save people’s lives against an operating system upgrade and deciding which is less important. But it is an obvious factor when budgets are being designed. With that said, something has to be done, money has to be spent and improvements need to be made; everyone who is involved in that department is well aware of that fact and will be doing all they can to keep both patients and our data as safe as possible.”