Further update on cyber attack affecting blood tests in south east London
On 3 June, Synnovis, a pathology laboratory which processes blood tests on behalf of a number of NHS organisations, primarily in south east London, was the victim of a cyber attack. We are aware that cybercriminals have claimed to have published data that was illegally taken from the Synnovis system.
This is currently being investigated as a matter of extreme urgency by NHSE and various supporting cybersecurity experts. It has not yet been verified that the data is from Synnovis, and LGT shares limited demographic information with them, but we do understand that this may cause concern for patients.
NHSE is 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. This includes whether it is data extracted from the Synnovis system, and if so whether it relates to NHS patients.
A range of measures are being put in place to support NHS organisations affected by this. A website has been stood up which can be found here https://digital.nhs.uk/news/synnovis-cyber-incident and will be updated throughout the coming days as information becomes available.
All statements will be published via this website, so please visit it to stay update on developments.
As more information becomes available through Synnovis’ full investigation, the NHS will continue to update patients and the public.
This is very much a live situation which is subject to a criminal investigation by law enforcement agencies.
Guidance is available from the National Security Centre.
An NHSE spokesperson said: “On 3 June, Synnovis, a pathology laboratory which processes blood tests on behalf of a number of NHS organisations, primarily in South East London, was the victim of a cyber attack.
“NHS England has been made aware that the cyber criminal group published data last night which they are claiming belongs to Synnovis and was stolen as part of this attack.
“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. This includes whether it is data extracted from the Synnovis system, and if so whether it relates to NHS patients.
“As more information becomes available through Synnovis’ full investigation, the NHS will continue to update patients and the public.”
A Synnovis spokesperson said: “On 3 June, Synnovis – a pathology services partnership between two London-based hospital Trusts and SYNLAB - was the victim of a cyberattack. Last night a group claiming responsibility for the cyberattack published data online that they allege belongs to Synnovis.
“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 underway.
“This analysis, run in conjunction with the NHS, the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners, aims to confirm whether the data was taken from Synnovis’ systems and what information it contains.
“We will keep our service users, employees and partners updated as the investigation progresses.”