London Hospitals Knew of Cyber Vulnerabilities Years Before Hack

The Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, which operates five major London hospitals, knew about cybersecurity weaknesses for years before a crippling ransomware attack, according to board meeting documents. The recent attack targeted the trust’s pathology provider, Synnovis, causing widespread hospital disruption. Despite acknowledging in April that cybersecurity was a “high risk,” it is unclear if the trust made improvements. As a result of the breach, blood test results can no longer be transferred into patient records, leaving doctors with an information gap and forcing hospitals to operate at reduced capacity.