Recovery from cyber attack that cancelled thousands of hospital appointments to take months, NHS admits
IndependentJun 25
UK: NHS Probes Data Leak Claims After Cyber Attack
Image copyright: Belinda Jiao/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is investigating claims that hackers published confidential patient data online that was stolen after a cyber attack knocked out services at several London hospitals earlier this month.
The June 3 attack caused procedures to be canceled or redirected in at least four of the capital's hospitals and reportedly targeted Synnovis, reportedly one of the largest pathology service providers in the UK.
The Spin
Narrative A
Russia has long banned extraditing criminals overseas, and since the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, it has stopped cooperating with the West on cybersecurity matters. That means Russian cybercrime has flourished, and the Kremlin turns its gaze if those attacks target the West. Qilin is most likely a Russian cybercrime organization.
Narrative B
While Qilin could be a Russia-based outfit, there's a possibility it supports Ukraine's resistance. The fact that it blamed the UK government for not helping in the "war" suggests that the hack and data leak was the work of a handful of Ukrainians who chose to attack Synnovis to revenge Ukrainian troops' deaths due to a lack of medicines and donor blood on the battlefield.