Ransomware attack on England’s health system highlights life-threatening impact of cybercrime [Video]

The National Health Service in England is urging people with universal blood types to donate after a ransomware attack disrupted hospitals’ ability to match patients — underlining how cyberattacks can have serious and potentially life-threatening impacts.

On June 3, hackers targeted pathology services provider Synnovis with ransomware. Ransomware attacks encrypt a company’s computer system, rendering it inoperable until the victim pays a fee.

The attack on Synnovis severely impacted several London hospitals serving two million people, prompting them to declare a critical incident and cancel cancer surgeries and blood transfusions.

On its website Monday, the National Health Service (NHS) explained the attack meant that “affected hospitals cannot currently match patients’ blood at the same frequency as usual” and that stocks of O positive and O negative blood need to be replenished as the hospitals lack the ability to quickly match patients to their correct blood type.

O positive is the most common blood type and can be provided to anyone who has a positive blood type, …