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Computer Virus Attack Forces Hospitals To Cancel Operations, Shut Down Systems (zdnet.com)
A hospital system in the United Kingdom has canceled all planned operations and diverted major trauma cases to neighboring facilities citing a computer virus outbreak. From a report on ZDNet: The Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust says a "major incident" has been caused by a "computer virus" which infected its electronic systems on Sunday. As a result of the attack, the hospital has taken the decision to shut down the majority of its computer networks in order to combat the virus. "A virus infected our electronic systems [on Sunday] and we have taken the decision, following expert advice, to shut down the majority of our systems so we can isolate and destroy it," said Dr Karen Dunderdale, the trust's deputy chief executive. The use of a shared IT system also means the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust has been taken offline as staff attempt to combat the attack. As a result of the attack, all outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures that were set to take place at the infected hospitals on Monday and Tuesday have been canceled, while medical emergencies involving major trauma and women in high-risk labor are being diverted to neighboring hospitals.
Do they not have paper they can write on till the computer system is back up and then retroactively enter the data in?
Seriously, it wasn't that long ago that it was ALL paper records and charts....surely people can still write and notate on paper till the computer system comes up.
If not, then we all SERIOUSLY need to reconsider having only electronic records for medical treatment, or a few hackers could really kill people...literally.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Where in the story did it say that the IT system in question was based on Windows?
... virus attack vector in the first place. While I realize that no OS is immune to viruses, it seems that switching to an OS that isn't as widely targeted should at least substantially reduce the likelihood they would be susceptible... and as most of the alternatives are a variant on Unix, usually have enough restrictions on what users are allowed to do that no one end-user with normal privileges can render the system unusable for anyone else.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
What was the name of this "computer virus" and what was the name of the Operating System platform?
Where in the story did it say that the IT system in question was based on Windows?
That's typically the case. Some of my best paying IT support contracts I've done are hospitals. Job security that pays well.
They're currently posting an ad for an IT Admin (asset mgmt) at UKP 17k (~$20k/yr). Great advertising... any takers? http://jobs.nlg.nhs.uk/job/UK/...
I'm not very good at geography. Tell me, which state are Lincolnshire and Goole in?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I'm assuming the virus got into the hospital's record keeping data system through an Internet connection. This makes me wonder if every system in the hospital is connected to the public Internet, including life support systems such as ventilators, heart monitors, etc., and and other devices such as robotic surgery machines, analytical laboratory equipment, x-ray data analysis computers, and more. Every data storage and manipulation device does not need to be on the general public Internet. Imagine if a county's ICBM launch systems were connected to the public Internet. The mind boggles. Even if these many systems were not on the Internet, a black hat with access to a significant collection of important networked computers can still do damage. The Stuxnet compromise of the Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges is a perfect example.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Operation's been canceled? Guess it's time to break out the wire snippers.
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
Tell me, which state are Lincolnshire and Goole in?
Mostly solid, with some liquid and gaseous thrown in.
Oh, and confusion and frustration as well.
Such a sad state.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Some people are criminals, what else is new? If only people weren't thieves, I wouldn't need locks on my door. Computer virus propagation on corporate networks is simple negligence, there is no reason after nearly 40 years of viruses that an entire system can be brought down with a simple criminal act.
This is similar to someone cuttting the power or water supply to a hospital and for some reason we have thought about and funded all THOSE failure modes but lo and behold the magic computing devices, they have never been able to operate without a complicated desktop windowing system, a system that directly connects all of them to a bidirectional sewage system AND a skeleton key the entire world owns.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
Replace "computer virus" with "virus" and "network shut-down" with "quarantine" and you get a nice scenario just a few days late for Halloween.
Maybe we could add a few zombies to spice things up.
After a recent experience myself I can say for sure that hospitals are not prepared for a attack on their technology. For one, I don't think many working the devices know much about securing them. When they break or fail to work they just set them aside until someone comes from the company or service company. I saw a lot of internal systems running older Windows and probably not completely protected or updated. It's a ticking time bomb that nobody is addressing.
Why does ZDNet always hide the fact that Windows is the operating system involved when viruses, worms, malware, scumware, ransomware etc are involved?
they need to fix.
apps that need local admin to run
apps that have a fixed user login
apps that don't run after os updates
apps that only work with old IE vers
apps must have a open link to a 3rd party outside vendor to work.
pay for your own background check as well.
wow that is as bad as this one Data Center that after having a robbery wanted to pay a armed guard near mini wage with bring your own gun being a big plus.
This is the UK. No patients are billed excepting for the occasional private room one and ambulance chasers for medical cases are very rare in the UK purely because even if they do win [Medical Negligence is not easy to prove in the UK and cases are dealt with by a judge only] the payout does not result in a huge legal payday. Speculative lawsuits in the UK are a non-starter.
Here in Hobart, Tasmania, I wince every time I go to a medical facility because many of them are still using PCs running Windows XP. I have yet to see one running a currently supported version of Windows. I expect an event like the one reported in the article any day now.
...until the right person dies.
I spent 20 years with 911/999/etc and that is the motto there also.
So until some important lorrie/torrie/libdem/publican't loses a parent/spouse/child to hacking....it will not be fixed.
Until then install VirtualBox and with a VM for SolydK.
Been using for 3 years with not problems in auto-updates.
Developers came from Debian.
I'm not sure there are non-critical systems in a hospital. Surely all the computers and their networks are critical in one way or another, including billing, employee attendance records and payroll or they wouldn't be there.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Reading this I had State of Independence by Jon Anderson and Vangelis in my head.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
With increased size come economies of scale. Or at least,t he possibility of economies of scale.
With increased size come outages or destruction which affect larger numbers of people. Or at least the possibility of such outages or destruction.
Barings Bank comes to mind.
So does Nassim Nicholas Taleb's anti-fragility.
There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
That's because if they taught recursive writing they'd have to teach recursive writing.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."