MOSCOW, May 13 (Sputnik) — Scotland’s devolved government said 12 of its 14 health boards were affected Friday by an unprecedented cyberattack that disrupted health services across the country.
"Earlier today a Ransomware cyber-attack of the kind which has impacted NHS England, was found to have affected twelve health boards across NHS Scotland. Immediate steps were taken to isolate the affected systems," First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a statement.
These boards are NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Tayside, NHS Western Isles, NHS Highlands, NHS Grampian, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and Scottish Ambulance Service.
First Minister Sturgeon chaired an emergency meeting on Friday night to discuss action with health and national cybersecurity officials. They said most incidents had been confined to desktop computers in GP surgeries, dental practices and other primary care centers.
Computers in more than 70 other countries have also been affected, with Russia being hit the worst, according to IT security firm Kaspersky Lab. In the United Kingdom, some hospitals lost access to patient data and asked the public to avoid coming without emergency.
