Suspected ransomware attack at southeast Ireland's healthcare facility

A suspected case of the ransomware attack has been identified in a computer system in a healthcare center in southeast Ireland's Wexford city, public broadcaster RTE reported on Saturday.

The malware attack at the center has been isolated and prevented from spreading, RTE said.

The center, which is owned by a voluntary organization, is not controlled by the government health agency HSE and is therefore not part of HSE's computer network.

But computer experts in the HSE are helping the organization to stop the spread of the malware.

Earlier, the HSE said it was taking precautionary action to protect its IT systems following the ransomware attack on Britain's National Health Service (NHS).

In a statement, the HSE said access to external email has been removed from all threatened and targeted devices.

In the HSE, there are approximately 1,500 devices that are considered either threatened or targeted devices. This includes devices that deliver diagnostic imaging and bio-medical device control machines.

Currently, the HSE is working closely with the organizations that deliver technology to the health system regarding assurance and levels of preparedness. Anti-Virus updates are currently being installed in these devices and a process of testing is underway.

The WannaCry ransomware virus has rapidly spreaded across computer systems in around 100 countries and regions, including Russia and Britain. On Friday, Britain's NHS network was affected, shutting down many of its systems and affecting services.

The ransomware attack is boiling down to a computer virus that makes users' computers useless unless a payment is made to those who hacked their system. Endit