Qilin ransomware attack on Synnovis impacted several NHS hospitals

Several major NHS hospitals in London suffered operational disruptions following a significant data security incident at pathology services provider Synnovis.

 

In an announcement, the London-based pathology services provider said that on June 3, it was a victim of a ransomware attack that affected all Synnovis IT systems.

 

“It is still early days and we are trying to understand exactly what has happened. A taskforce of IT experts from Synnovis and the NHS is working to fully assess the impact this has had, and to take the appropriate action needed. 

 

“We are working closely with NHS Trust partners to minimise the impact on patients and other service users,” the firm said.

 

The ransomware attack affected several NHS hospitals including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and other primary care providers across south east London.

 

Recently, Ciaran Martin, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), revealed that the Qilin ransomware group was behind the cyber attack on Synnovis.

 

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Martin said, “We believe it is a Russian group of cyber criminals who call themselves Qilin.

 

“They’re simply looking for money. It’s unlikely they would have known that they would have caused such serious primary healthcare disruption when they set out to attack the company,” he added.

 

An NHS London spokesperson also confirmed that the cyber attack on Synnovis “is continuing to cause disruption to services”.

 

“All urgent and emergency services remain open as usual and the majority of outpatient services continue to operate as normal.

 

“Unfortunately, some operations and procedures which rely more heavily on pathology services have been postponed, and blood testing is being prioritised for the most urgent cases, meaning some patients have had phlebotomy appointments cancelled,” the spokesperson added.