LONDON 13 May 2017: Hospitals across England have been hit by a large-scale cyber-attack, the NHS has confirmed on Friday.
”A number of NHS organisations have reported to NHS Digital that they have been affected by a ransomware attack.
The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor,” said the NHS in a statement, carried by Wam.
”This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors.
At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed,” the statement added.
”NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England to support affected organisations and ensure patient safety is protected.” ”Our focus is on supporting organisations to manage the incident swiftly and decisively,” it stated.
Spanish firms hit in ‘ransomware’ attack
MADRID: Telecom giant Telefonica and several other Spanish companies were targeted in cyber attacks Friday, the government said.
Spain’s national cryptology centre, a division of the country’s intelligence services, said the ransomware used in the attacks was of the WannaCry type which locks targeted files with a secret encryption algorithm.
It affected Windows operating systems and any linked networks, it explained.
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By Sheena Amos