A Southport Health Watchdog has asked the Information Commissioners to look into the ramshackle anarchy of NHS data management which has been revealed in the recent Ransom malware attack.



Councillor Tony Dawson, who leads the Southport contingency on the local Health & Adult Care Scrutiny Committee says that it is possible that the Cybermen who led this attack may have done the NHS a favour.

He says:

"This was a fairly small and simple attack and relatively easy to address. Had the Cyber bullies been just a little more sophisticated they could have done untold damage. As it is, they have forced the NHS nationally to take a serious look at how they allow our precious personal data to be maintained by a thousand and one bodies on different systems with different security."

"It is more than likely that a whole host of other government systems will be found to be vulnerable to Cyber attacks, paralysis, destruction or ransom because of the obsession with privatisation and politicians relentless shirking of central responsibility for all sorts of government functions."

"Perhaps, if the Southport NHS Trust had not wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds on inefficiently-conducted disciplinary proceedings, they might have had a few bob to spare for the odd microsoft security patch or upgrade from Windows XP? But the attacks would still have taken place on dozens of other hospitals and GP surgeries nationwide".

"I have written to the Information Commissioner's Office, asking them if they will consider conducting an Inquiry into the systems which the National Health Service nationally permits to govern the maintenance and retrieval of personal data within NHS Trusts, General Practitioners etc. It appears to me, on the face of it, that the government have completely abrogated their responsibility to maintain our national NHS database safe to a kind of 'institutionalised anarchy'. The irony is that overall this will probably have cost the NHS massively more than a centralised security contract, properly administered would have done.

This was a fairly small and simple attack and relatively easy to address.

Hats off to Dawson, who has clearly brought his expertise to the coal face, helping protect and restore the NHS's systems last week.

Had the Cyber bullies been just a little more sophisticated they could have done untold damage. As it is, they have forced the NHS nationally to take a serious look at how they allow our precious personal data to be maintained by a thousand and one bodies on different systems with different security.

Ultimately, the root of this fragmentation is that the Trusts are separate, competing entities, and thus collaboration is discouraged. The problem began with Thatcher's Health and Social Care Act and has been compounded by every government since.

Good to know we have our best man correcting Europol in their view that this was "the largest witnessed ransom ware attack" plus the days some organisations were offline for in that this was "fairly small and simple".

Hopefully he does realise that there is a possibility women can be "cyber bullies" too and hopefully he's not mixed up Doctor Who and the real world as would be frightening if "Cybermen" actually existed. But if they did I'm sure one of his letters would stop then.



Shame on Tony once again though for trying to dredge up the past on disciplinary cases for political capital. Windows 7 was actually affected more than XP.

He seems to like standing in front of that sign for his picture