Waikato DHB expects the first of its IT systems to be back up and running by the end of the week. Photo / Alan Gibson
Waikato DHB is getting closer to reinstating some of its IT systems, with the DHB hoping its first system will be back online by the end of this week.
The DHB’s entire IT system was taken offline almost two weeks ago after the biggest-ever cyber attack on a New Zealand organisation.
Since then staff at Waikato, Thames, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui and Tokoroa hospitals have been forced to use pen and paper and rely on manual processes to keep treating the region’s patients.
Hundreds of surgeries and outpatient appointments have also been cancelled.
But with the help of a large number of IT experts, the Waikato DHB said it had made good progress toward standing up its first system near the end of this week.
Waikato DHB chief executive Kevin Snee said they had a relatively smooth weekend and reminded people to keep away from the emergency department unless they needed urgent care.
He reminded people there would be delays and asked for patience.
The DHB had called the majority of patients whose personal details had been compromised over the weekend, but there were still one or two who still needed to be reached.
Snee would not give the exact number of how many affected patients had not received feedback.
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Waikato DHB was still working with other DHBs to look at where there was capacity should they need to transfer patients.
Snee said in a circumstance like this you could get opportunistic emails in the hope they could scam you so people needed to be aware of this.
It’s a timely reminder we take some of these things for granted and we need to be careful with personal details, he said.
Last Monday night several media agencies, including the Herald, were contacted by the group claiming responsibility for the cyber attack, via an email with attached files containing patient and staff information.
The attackers also claimed it had warned the DHB and was giving it one more chance to respond to its demands.
The Herald provided the email to police.
Snee has since confirmed the confidential information provided to media was genuine and the DHB would be in touch with those affected parties to let them know and provide support this week.
Privacy Commissioner John Edwards said last week it was his expectation that the DHB would notify and offer support to the individuals identified in that information without delay.
“We would also expect that the DHB would be actively monitoring for potential host sites on the Dark Web or elsewhere.”
If the DHB was found not to have taken adequate security measures to protect its information systems, it could be liable to any staff member, contractor or patient who suffers harm as a result, he said.
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