Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 September 2021
1054. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the temporary shutdown of HSE IT systems with regard to the steps and their associated timeline to restore IT capacity and resume normal services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41670/21]
View answer1145. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health the status of the cyberattack on the HSE and his Department; the computer systems that are now fully working; the systems yet to be fixed; and when the systems that are not yet functioning will be fully operational. [41865/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1054 and 1145 together.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) reported to the Joint Committee on Health on 23rd June 2021 with an update on the extent and response to the cyberattack. This can be found on the Oireachtas website at the following link:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debateRecord/joint_committee_on_health/2021-06-23/debate/mul@/main.pdf
The HSE response contains four steps or stages - the containment phase and the inform phase are complete.
The third phase, which involved the restoration of services and eradication of ransomware, is substantially complete. The cyberattack had the effect of removing access to most patient care systems and central business systems within the HSE. The initial efforts during phase 3 focused on restoring core patient care systems such as hospital radiotherapy, laboratory, imaging, pharmacy, mental health and patient administration systems along with basic email services. The HSE continues to work through the restoration phase and recently advised that over 95% of all servers and devices had been restored. Acute, community and corporate services are almost fully restored.
The majority of HSE staff can now have access email and most HSE Corporate systems have been restored. The Healthlink system that provides essential connectivity between GP systems and the rest of the health system is also fully functional.
Work on phase 4, the remedy phase, is also advancing. The HSE has deployed additional expertise, resources and technology to provide enhanced monitoring of systems and networks whilst it procures a permanent Security Operations Centre that will provide routine security and threat incidence monitoring in future.
Following a similar cyber attack at the Department of Health, all systems were restored to normal operational status within a relatively short period following the incident. Significant work has been completed to upgrade and strengthen the Department's security infrastructure since that time.
