We don't pay ransom - that's the message from the Waikato District Health's Board chief executive Dr Kevin Snee as the organisation braces for ongoing is
He says information systems teams are working in shifts around the clock and the incident control team were on hand throughout the weekend, but still a fix was proving complex . We expect this to run for a further week and possibly beyond. Investigation into this type of cybersecurity events is challenging and complex. Hospitals are complex organizations with many hundreds of servers serving over 400,000 population with 8000 staff over many sites.
Despite estimates the system will be working towards the end of next week, Dr Snee says it s not currently possible to provide a clear timeline - and even when it is back up and running there may still be challenges.
Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
A ransomware attack on Tuesday crashed all the district health board s computer system and it is likely to be out of action this coming week and maybe beyond that.
During the week 80 percent of around 1500 elective surgeries a day went ahead, leaving hundreds now back on the waiting list.
Eighty percent of outpatient clinics have also gone ahead.
DHB chief executive Kevin Snee said planning is now underway for when services resume in full. And we will be clearly wanting to put a lot of resource, both to re-enter the written date and to make sure patients have their treatment if it has been deferred and if that means using other partner hospitals or using the private sector, then we will do that.
As in war, details are being closely guarded. “The only people who know are the hackers and the victim. And they both don’t reveal more information than necessary to protect themselves, to not reveal their hand so that the other side doesn’t take advantage,” he said.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Waikato DHB chief executive Kevin Snee got a text about a cyber security issue. Day one: IT blackout, ‘absolute chaos’, DHB rules out a ransom The first chief executive Kevin Snee knew was from a text in the early hours of Tuesday morning.