Following the news that healthcare IT supplier Advanced has suffered a ransomware attack
Dean Sabri, Principal Analyst for Health and Social Care at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:
“NHS organizations across the country have been on high alert for cyber-attacks in recent years, especially since the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack that disrupted 1 per cent of all NHS care over a one-week period, according to the Department of Health and Social Care’s investigation. While we do not yet know the eventual cost to NHS organizations because of the attack on Advanced, we do know that the WannaCry attack cost the NHS an estimated £92 million in direct costs and lost output, as well as severely affected 80 trusts. Advanced currently has 36 NHS clients, while its Adastra software works with most NHS 111 services.
“GlobalData analysis shows that investment in security software and infrastructure across UK healthcare organizations increased by 53 per cent in real terms between 2016 and 2021. However, the potential cost of this ongoing ransomware attack could far exceed the amount individual trusts have devoted to cyber security in recent years. A cyber-attack on a large healthcare software supplier such as Advanced suggests that NHS organizations could be effectively wasting as much as $US62 million if they do not require tighter security measures from suppliers in future procurements.”
Tags: healthcareNHS
