The government has some big questions to answer over the NHS cyber-attack

Are there any words which have such an affinity as ‘NHS’, ‘IT’ and ‘cock-up’? Older readers might remember how the Department of Health blew £10 billion of taxpayers’ money on a computer system which was eventually abandoned. Today comes news that two dozen hospitals have been affected by a massive hack of computer systems. Patients in Stevenage and Blackpool have been told not to visit their local A&E departments unless they are desperate. Operations have been postponed. Phone systems have gone down and doctors are unable to prescribe drugs. The culprit is a piece of ‘ransomware’ which seems to be capable of locking computers which it says will only be unlocked if a payment is made in bitcoin.

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Matthew Lynn

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The NHS is not alone in being targeted – yesterday’s attack was global, aimed at computer systems all around the world.