A ransomware attack has severely impacted the national health service of Ireland, called the Health Service Executive i.e. HSE ransomware that resulted in HSE’s internal IT network systems temporarily shutting down.
HSE ransomware attack as vaccination program continues:
The HSE ransomware attack is particularly concerning, considering that they are currently amidst a COVID-19 vaccination program.
However, it was provided by the healthcare organization that the ransomware attack did not directly affect any urgent medical care services, though a few routine checks and services may have been delayed or canceled.
According to the medical organization’s Chief Executive Paul Reid, the HSE ransomware attack is currently being investigated in coordination with the relevant IT agency of the organization to detail the analytics and exact impact of the ransomware attack.
For now, it has been provided that, the attack has affected their employee’s ability to access online systems and patients’ electronic devices.
The HSE attack came to the organization’s attention when some of its applications and databases turned inaccessible overnight.
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Employees arriving at work in the morning were told to shut down and leave systems offline.
No ransomware note as of yet:
Even though the HSE ransomware attack has been slated as a formal attack, no ransomware note has been issued as of yet.
When concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccination program were considered, HSE notes that the drive stays unarmed and continues to run as it operates from a separate system.
The HSE described the cyberattack incident as “significant” and “human-operated,” a term used to describe high-end sophisticated ransomware groups which orchestrate targeted attacks against carefully big organizations.
News of the attack comes after last week a ransomware gang managed to disrupt fuel delivery on the entire US East Coast through its attack on Colonial Pipeline. The attack led the White House and major US institutions to look into cracking down on ransomware gangs who carry out disruptive attacks.
