A cyberattack that hit a major NHS IT provider and badly affected the 111 service involved ransomware and could take up to four weeks to fix, it has been learned.
Advanced, which provides vital systems for the NHS, said it suffered a cyber breach around 7am on August 4, which has now been contained.
The attack had wide implicationsaffecting the system used to dispatch ambulances, book out-of-hours appointments and issue emergency prescriptions.
NHS 111 call handlers have been left “working on paper” with the cyberattack “negatively affecting” response times, according to a letter from NHS England to London GPs seen by industry magazine Pulse.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has reported a ‘major breakdown’ in the system used to refer 111 patients to out-of-hours GPs, saying the problem affected all four UK countries.
The public was encouraged to use 111 online or by phone, but was warned that answering calls could take longer.
It comes five years after the The WannaCry cyberattack severely disrupted servicesleading to thousands of canceled appointments and leaving the NHS with a bill of almost £100million.
This attack was blamed on North Korea but it is unclear who is behind the latest attack on NHS systems.
“We would like to emphasize that there is no indication that our customers are at risk of spreading malware and believe that early intervention by our incident response team has limited this issue to a small number of servers,” said a spokesperson for Advanced.
The company says it is working with the NHS and the National Cyber Security Center to validate the steps it has taken before the NHS can start bringing services back online.
Advanced said it was working “tirelessly” to fix the issues, but confirmed it could take three to four weeks longer to get some systems back to full performance.
“As you can imagine, we are in the early stages of our investigation into this incident and are working alongside our third-party forensic partners to gather further details.
“Although we have not yet confirmed the root cause – and this may take some time – rest assured that we will update you as we learn more.”
A cyberattack that hit a major NHS IT provider and badly affected the 111 service involved ransomware and could take up to four weeks to fix, it has been learned.
Advanced, which provides vital systems for the NHS, said it suffered a cyber breach around 7am on August 4, which has now been contained.
The attack had wide implicationsaffecting the system used to dispatch ambulances, book out-of-hours appointments and issue emergency prescriptions.
NHS 111 call handlers have been left “working on paper” with the cyberattack “negatively affecting” response times, according to a letter from NHS England to London GPs seen by industry magazine Pulse.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has reported a ‘major breakdown’ in the system used to refer 111 patients to out-of-hours GPs, saying the problem affected all four UK countries.
The public was encouraged to use 111 online or by phone, but was warned that answering calls could take longer.
It comes five years after the The WannaCry cyberattack severely disrupted servicesleading to thousands of canceled appointments and leaving the NHS with a bill of almost £100million.
This attack was blamed on North Korea but it is unclear who is behind the latest attack on NHS systems.
“We would like to emphasize that there is no indication that our customers are at risk of spreading malware and believe that early intervention by our incident response team has limited this issue to a small number of servers,” said a spokesperson for Advanced.
The company says it is working with the NHS and the National Cyber Security Center to validate the steps it has taken before the NHS can start bringing services back online.
Advanced said it was working “tirelessly” to fix the issues, but confirmed it could take three to four weeks longer to get some systems back to full performance.
“As you can imagine, we are in the early stages of our investigation into this incident and are working alongside our third-party forensic partners to gather further details.
“Although we have not yet confirmed the root cause – and this may take some time – rest assured that we will update you as we learn more.”