RUSSIAN hackers have allegedly published NHS patients' names, dates of birth and personal blood test data from a shocking cyber attack. Synnovis, a contracted IT firm which serves NHS pathology labs, was the victim of a cyber hack - understood to be carried out by Russian group Qilinon - on June 3. Hundreds of operations and appointments are still being delayed weeks after the "critical incident" unfolded.
Several hospitals were forced to cancel major surgeries and blood transfusions. NHS England is now aware that the cyber criminal group published data last night which they claim belongs to Synnovis. They allege it was stolen as part of this attack.
As reported by the BBC, the cyber criminal group shared almost 400GB of data. This included patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and descriptions of blood tests. An NHS England spokesperson said: "NHS England has been made aware that the cyber criminal group published data last night which they are claiming belongs to Synnovis and was stolen as part of this attack.
"We understand that people may be concerned by this and we are continuing to work with Synnovis, the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners to determine the content of the published files as quickly as possible. "This includes whether it is data extracted from the Synnovis system, and if so whether it relates to NHS patients. "As more information becomes available through Synnovis’ full investigation, the NHS will continue to update patients and the .