The Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland has revealed that steady progress is being made on restoring IT systems and it has taken a high court order against the hackers in the aftermath of the recent cyberattack. But challenges still remain, the HSE said on 1 June.
In an update posted on the HSE website, it noted that many priority systems -- such as radiology and diagnostic systems, maternity and infant care, patient administration systems, chemotherapy, radiation oncology, and radiotherapy -- are back online at local sites. However, "work in these areas remains challenged and far slower and less integrated compared to normal," the HSE said.
Overall, services around the country are continuing to see significant disruption. Essential services are continuing, but systems are not functioning as usual and patients may experience delays and, in some cases, cancellations, the HSE said. It expects a number of weeks will still be needed to complete restoration of the 2,000 IT systems.
"Specialists and our legal team are continuing to monitor websites used by criminals to check for activity involving any data stolen in the cyber attack," the release noted. "We are working with the Gardai, digital publishers, search engines, social media networks and our legal team to make sure that any information that has been stolen is not shared online."
The HSE has taken a high court order to stop personal and medical information that may have been stolen in this cyberattack from being published online. It urges people receiving any suspicious calls, texts, or other contacts seeking personal or banking details to report these contacts to their local Garda (police) station or the Garda confidential line (1800 666111).
