Cyber Attack on NHS

You cannot patch a system after the attack. It has to be done before hand. The cyber attack downloads software onto the computer or into the computer system that remains on the system whether the system is online or not.

The ransom software has all sorts of protective measures written in that makes it difficult to access and remove. This is why many companies find it quicker and easier to pay the ransom, get their systems running again and then start to try and ensure that there computer systems are protected against future attacks.

Thanks for that, Monica. I understand now.
Why don't they use Linux now, instead of XP?

I know it's not funny, but GCHQ deserve this.

www.indy100.com/article/gchq-nhs-hack-ransomware-malware-data-bitcoin-medical-records-cyber-attack-7733896

I also understand why the ransom was asked for in bitcoins, but that large an amount can surely be traced, can't it?

If STPs come in, who will be responsible for purchasing NHS software?
Surely all STPs having individual responsibility will be another disaster.

Bitcoins operate on the 'dark web', so that they cannot be traced. For that reason it is reckoned that most common use of the bitcoin system is for drug-related transactions.

That's the idea, but drug related transactions can be traced. Proceeds of crime will then include bitcoins.

Many of England’s 8,000 GP surgeries have been closed all weekend following the attack, which started on Friday afternoon. The NHS fears many could be affected for the first time on Monday.

“Given the timing of the cyber-attack, some parts of the NHS will not have clocked there is an issue,” a spokeswoman for NHS Digital told the Guardian. “If that is going to happen it is more likely to be primary care trusts.”

Good to know that NHS Digital has such faith in primary care trusts. Those people who switch on the computers tomorrow morning have not seen the news all weekend, of course, and have not been in touch with anyone about it.

Anyone know where Jeremy Hunt is in all this?
I haven't seen any mention of him actually doing anything.
He still is secretary of state for health until there is another one.

"Mr Ashworth demanded to know why NHS organisations had failed to act on a critical note from Microsoft two months ago, what resources were being given to the NHS to bring the situation under control and what arrangements were in place to protect the NHS against cyber attacks."

Two months ago, let alone two years ago, they were warned.

Where is Jeremy Hunt?

Even the DM wants to know where he is. Suggestions that he's washing his hair.

Doesn't microsoft blackmail us just the same?
Saying that they will no longer support one system and you have to buy another one, even though the original one does exactly what we want anyway?

Agree Durham! Microsoft have a lot to answer for, withdrawing support on Windows XP in order to make money on a new version, seriously greedy and as you say blackmail! Surely paramount to holding companies to ransom ??

If you used computers built by Apple, the operating system upgrades are free but nevertheless, upgrades are still needed. Microsoft systems are cheaper than Apple's so they have charged for their operating system upgrades in the past. It's just business, not blackmail.

Are you still running a car built in 2001? Possibly, but I daresay you would expect it to be costing you more to keep it on the road. Yet some contributors are happy to keep running out of date computers that are not fit for purpose and must now be aware that they are running increasingly greater risks, not just for themselves but for other users they communicate with. In fact, Microsoft have recently rolled out a patch for the vulnerability in XP (also in Windows 8).

There are reasons why huge organisations may still need XP to run old software but the machines that run it must be isolated from networked systems. The problems with the NHS were exacerbated by the reactions of the multiple IT support teams to the ransomware. The IT teams didn't know which systems had been affected and may have shut down more than was necessary as a precaution.

This cyber attack has served to show all of us just how vulnerable we are. The advice to always keep your computer up to date, to be vigilant and suspicious, keep offline back-ups of important data and use complex passwords that are not reused, is worth taking very seriously.

Where do you write down all your passwords, then? I hope you don't keep them in a password reminder on your computer.

Is that a serious question durham? I suspect, from the level of knowledge of IT systems displayed in NanaMacGeek's response, that she is perfectly aware that passwords should not be stored anywhere within your computer system.

How many passwords do you have? I must use at least 200 programmes that require passwords.

I use a password manager. It generates and encrypts my passwords for me. I don't know what they are even! (It's the same technology as that used by ransomware.) I just have to remember one, complex and difficult password to open the password manager.

I think you are wrong, Chewbacca.

I see there are now suggestions that North Korea was behind this cyber attack.