The chief executive of the North East Ambulance Service has highlighted how the Russian invasion of Ukraine could pose a risk to NHS cyber security - but she reassured NEAS' board that "robust" measures were in place to monitor the threat.
NEAS chief executive Helen Ray told a regular meeting of the organisation's board that it was "only right to touch on" the impact of Russia's invasion in Ukraine - and she said the immediate concern arising from this would be for cyber security.
Later in the meeting, Peter Strachan, chair of the Trust's board, said that there was "clear and present danger" posed by cyber security threats originating in Russia.
Go here for the latest NHS news and breaking North East public health news
In 2017, the WannaCry cyberhack - which been connected by outlets including the Telegraph to a Russian-linked group - caused huge issues for at least 61 UK NHS organisations after medics were locked out of patient data files.
And in 2020, the Mirror reported that health chiefs ordered "urgent action" to thwart a suspected Russian cyber attack that could have targeted the NHS.
Ms Ray's comments came just hours after confirmation that Vladimir Putin's Russian regime had begun an invasion of Ukraine and bombed areas near to country's capital Kyiv.
She told the board: "I wanted to touch on the [impact of] Ukraine-Russia conflict. The information we have locally is about the impact on our cyber-security planning."
The chief exec said NEAS chief technology officer Paul Nicholson was working with colleagues nationally on ensuring a robust defence against cyber-security threats.
Ms Ray added: "We have a very strong patching policy in place where we monitor for threats coming in and we work with the national team to develop patches. We have a very robust response plan in place.
"Of course there remain risks though, and the threat is a very real and present one to all UK cyber security, not just in the NHS."
She also said the Trust would be monitoring the impact of the conflict on other issues such as fuel prices - "given the impact of that on any service like ourselves".
Discussing the "risk register" which catalogues threats to NEAS', Marie Liston, a non-executive director of the board said it was important that "we keep things like the emerging risks arising from the situation in Ukraine" in mind.
Trust Medical Director Dr Matthew Beattie said this would reflected in the months ahead.
This morning the National Cyber Security Centre released a statement and said: "Following Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the National Cyber Security Centre has called on organisations in the UK to bolster their online defences.
"The NCSC – which is a part of GCHQ – has urged organisations to follow its guidance on steps to take when the cyber threat is heightened.
"While the NCSC is not aware of any current specific threats to UK organisations in relation to events in and around Ukraine, there has been an historical pattern of cyber attacks on Ukraine with international consequences."
NHS England has a cyber security programme which "is working to ensure that measures are actively in place to protect NHS assets and services, including those commissioned by NHS England"
This programme has three aims: To "enact lessons learned" from the 2017 WannaCry hack; to take action on "critical" cyber alerts; and to "provide assurance that cyber security is being considered at board level and managed as an ongoing board level risk"..
Earlier this week, in response to a question from Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone about whether the UK had the "best possible defences against cyber attacks", Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the "National Cyber Force" had already been established in the North West.
He said this would "complement our defensive capability" and added: "It has already been established and is starting to grow. I cannot comment on the operations that it will undertake, but I am a soldier and I was always taught that the best part of defence is offence."
