NHS patient data 'published to dark net by Russian cybercriminal group'

21 June 2024 , 21:01

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Synnovis, which provides pathology services on blood tests, primarily in south-east London, was the victim of a cyber attack (Image: Getty Images)

Data from a ransomware attack on NHS provider Synnovis has allegedly been published online by a cybercriminal group, NHS England said.

Synnovis, which provides pathology services on blood tests, primarily in south-east London, was the victim of a cyber attack - understood to be carried out by Russian group Qilin - on June 3. Hundreds of operations and appointments are still being cancelled two weeks after the incident.

In a statement on Friday, NHS England said: “NHS England has been made aware that the cybercriminal group published data last night which they are claiming belongs to Synnovis and was stolen as part of this attack.”

According to the BBC, the cybercriminal group shared almost 400GB of data - including patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and descriptions of blood tests - on their darknet site and Telegram channel.

Spreadsheets containing financial arrangements between hospitals and GP services and Synnovis were also published, the BBC reported.

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“We understand that people may be concerned by this and we are continuing to work with Synnovis, the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners to determine the content of the published files as quickly as possible,” NHS England said. “This includes whether it is data extracted from the Synnovis system, and if so whether it relates to NHS patients.”

Synnovis, in a statement on Friday, said: “We know how worrying this development may be for many people. We are taking it very seriously and an analysis of this data is already under way.”

Between June 10-16, the second week after the attack, more than 320 planned operations and 1,294 outpatient appointments were postponed at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

The number of rearranged planned operations has gone down by 494 since the first week after the attack, June 3-9, but the number of missed outpatient appointments has increased by 394.

The total so far is 1,134 planned operations and 2,194 outpatient appointments postponed, according to NHS England London figures. Urgent and emergency services have remained available as usual.

Ellie Ng