The HSE chief has defended the Government's decision not to pay a ransom to hackers who are threatening to release patient data online as the health system struggles from the impact of last week's cyberattack. HSE chief executive Paul Reid said on Thursday that “paying a ransom is a race to the bottom”, and only serves to increase the “capacity and capability” of the criminal groups. HSE hospitals operate using the National Incident Management System (NIMS) which continues to be down. The main focus is on restoring the Patient Administration System (PAS) containing patient records, but there is a back-up for this, he said. Damien McCallion, HSE national lead for vaccinations, said the aim is to give everyone the vaccine most readily available.

Source: Irish Examiner May 20, 2021 16:02 UTC