Tonga's health system paralysed by major ransomware attack, staff forced to go manual

Officials from Tonga’s Ministry of Health said that the department was hit by a major ransomware attack, which severely disrupted the nation’s healthcare systems and forced staff to revert to manual operations.

 

Recently, in a social media post, Tonga’s Ministry of Health said that the department is “addressing a situation impacting its IT systems.” Officials of the ministry immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“Despite this issue, all health services are operational, and individuals seeking medical care should continue visiting health facilities as usual. The public are advised to bring their clinic cards when seeking medical care as this will help our healthcare workers,” the Ministry said in its social media post.

 

Local media reported that Minister of Health, Ana ‘Akau’ola told the parliament that Tonga’s National Health Information System (NHIS) suffered a significant ransomware attack that forced the department to take several critical systems offline, forcing staff to operate  manually.

 

The breach was revealed during a parliamentary discussion on the MEIDECC budget, when Deputy PM Dr. Taniela Fusimalohi brought the intrusion to the attention of MPs. Dr. ʻAkauʻola confirmed that she became aware of the incident on June 15 and promptly called in the system administrators. She also mentioned that the staff member overseeing the NHIS was unaware of the gravity of the breach.

 

Dr. ʻAkauʻola further revealed that an unidentified ransomware group targeted the National Health Information System, demanding millions in ransom to restore access to the system.

 

In a statement shared with the media, Dr. ʻAkauʻola said, “This system is used to record and register patients at the hospital. It contains the history of all our patients, including their medical records, prescriptions, health risks and future plans for patients.

 

“This happened on Sunday, I was informed from the hospital that the system was not functioning. Everything we do at the hospital, including ordering pills are all done in this system.”

 

At the time of publishing, the Ministry of Health website remains offline.