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UK National Health Service Paralysed by Windows Ransomware Attack
The Guardian and the BBC report [theguardian.com] respectively [bbc.co.uk] about a large-scale ransomware attack [theguardian.com] on its Microsoft Windows computer systems in England and Scotland. This particular piece of malware is called "WanaCryp0r 2.0" or WannaCry and encrypts the PC's hard disk and demands bitcoin to decrypt it.
About 40 hospitals, GP surgeries and other NHS organisations are affected. Patients have had operations cancelled, ambulances have been diverted and wards have been closed.
From one of the Guardian reports:
According to one junior doctor who works in a London hospital, the attack left hospitals struggling to care for people. “However much they pretend patient safety is unaffected, it’s not true. At my hospital we are literally unable to do any x-rays, which are an essential component of emergency medicine.”
The NHS has stressed that patients' electronic medical records have not been compromised.
