NHS on high alert over serious cyber security threat

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By Lily Canter, Sophie Wingate , Mathilde Grandjean, and George Thompson

The NHS has been placed on high alert over a major cyber security threat that forced six health boards in Scotland to temporarily shut down their websites.

NHS England has issued an urgent warning about two critical security flaws that could allow hackers to take control of computer systems or access sensitive information.

The alert comes as organisations worldwide scramble to fix vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used by almost 70% of websites.

Six of Scotland's 14 territorial NHS health boards temporarily took their websites offline on Wednesday as a precaution. All six were subsequently restored.

Several Scottish councils and public bodies, including the Care Inspectorate, also suspended access to their websites.

There have been no confirmed reports of disruption to patient care or clinical services.

Meanwhile, NHS England's National Cyber Security Operations Centre has issued a high-severity alert warning that hackers could exploit the vulnerabilities to access sensitive information or remotely control affected systems.