A children's hospital and maternity hospital in Dublin were targeted by the global ransomware virus.
The Irish Independent reports that Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin and the Rotunda Maternity Hospital were two facilities where the WannaCry virus tried to attack computer systems in the largest cyber security breach in history.
The ransomware used in Friday’s attack has wreaked havoc on major international companies such as FedEx and Telefónica, as well as the NHS where operations were cancelled, X-rays, test results and patient records became unavailable and phones did not work.
Crypto-ransomware is a type of ransomware that encrypts files stored on the user's computer or mobile device. Simply put, encryption 'scrambles' the contents of a file, so that it is unreadable by either the user or the device itself. To restore it for normal use, a decryption key is needed to 'unscramble' the file.
When crypto-ransomware encrypts a user's files, it is essentially taking those files hostage; a ransom demand is then displayed offering the user the decryption key needed to restore the files, if a specified sum is paid. In some cases, the user only has a limited time period to make the payment.
The attack, which began Friday, May 12, infected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries, with the software demanding ransom payments in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 28 languages.
However, the HSE said that no private information has been accessed by the virus.
Stephen McMahon, director of the Irish Patients Association appeared on Morning Ireland today to discuss the impact that the virus had on hospitals: "There's no evidence of patient information being accessed."
The HSE has decided to keep its network disconnected from outside communications for another 24 hours as a precaution in the wake of the cyber attack.
Key health services including MRI scans, X-rays and blood tests suffered a slowdown.
McMahon said, "The main impact it had was on electronic orders for radiology and communications, meaning a return to hand-written notes and telephone calls."
However, he said that the system slowdown had an effect on emails sent to agencies such as The Child and Family Agency TUSLA. "The effect of this was that emails such as ones that reported child welfare concerns were diverted and not received. We would advise anyone who sent on these types of queries to follow up with the HSE."
