A large cyberattack on Israeli hospitals, similar to the one that hit the NHS, has been thwarted by Israeli cyber experts.
Several Israeli hospitals were hit overnight Wednesday by a large cyberattack, officials said, adding that the hackers were foiled before they could inflict damage on the computer networks.
The event was dealt with “immediately” and no damage was caused, the National Cyber Authority said in a statement, without revealing the names of the institutions attacked.
Developments are being closely monitored, and the hospitals have continued running as usual, the statement said.
The latest attack comes as top global cybersecurity officials, gathered in Tel Aviv for the annual Cyber Week conference, were warning that hackers are winning the battle in the cyber war, as more and more devices come online and as protections remain painfully inadequate.
Israel was thought to be largely spared by the latest global wave of cyberattacks which wreaked havoc on government and corporate computer systems as it spread around the world. It is thought it was this same attack that Israel thwarted against its hospitals.
Unfortunately, the United Kingdom was not so prepared for such an attack when almost 50 NHS Trusts were hit last month by the Wannacry cyber-attack.
Computers were encrypted and so became unusable in many areas of the health service, with hackers threatening that valuable files would be lost forever unless a ransom was paid. Patients were still being diverted from accident and emergency departments six days later.
