Ransomware: Ireland refuses to pay

Several days after the cyber attack began, Irish health services are still suspended, between delays and cancellations of appointments. However, the Irish government refuses to pay the ransom demanded by the attackers and ensures it works towards a gradual return to normal life.

It has now been nearly a week since the Irish health services have fallen prey to a particularly large cyberattack. As a precaution, and in time to assess the impact of this attack, the health services official took his information technology out of service. As a result, many systems are slow in Ireland, be it setting medical appointments or getting Covid-19 test results. At a press conference, Prime Minister Michel Martin made clear that several days would still be needed to assess the consequences of the cyber attack.

In particular, the Irish CEO assured that no ransom would be paid to the attackers, on the advice of government cybersecurity advisers. Especially since the emergency services as well as vaccination centers are not affected by this ransom program, a strain of Conte that appears unprecedented, according to the state of Ireland.

Cyber ​​crime

For its part, HSE indicates that the country’s health services continue to be affected to varying degrees and provides regular updates on its website regarding the situation in the medical sector. “Work continues today to assess the impact and initiate the restoration of health, safety and environmental IT systems. This work will take several weeks and we expect significant disruptions to continue due to the shutdown of our IT systems.Explains the general assembly, specifying expectation of improvements from today.

For Osian Smith, Minister Responsible for the Digital System, this attack is “Perhaps the biggest cybercrime attack against the Irish stateHe indicated on this subject that it was not a matter of espionage, but a criminal case, as the attackers sought to ransom Ireland in exchange for breaking its health system.HSE is working with our partners at the National Cybersecurity Center and a number of cybersecurity vendors to correct this issue.Termin Ossian Smith.