Three hospitals in Liverpool have been hit by a single cyber attack in which some data was illegally obtained.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that the breach occurred late last month, also affecting Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
It said the cyber criminals gained unlawful access to data through a shared digital gateway service.
“The attacker has claimed to have extracted data from impacted systems,” the hospitals said in a public statement. “Screenshots of data the attacker claims to have taken were published online last Thursday (28th November 2024).
“We are continuing to take this issue very seriously while investigations continue into whether the attacker has obtained confidential data. The investigation into the data may take some time, and there is a possibility that the attacker may publish the data before our investigation is concluded.”
Securing systems
They said it has been working with the National Crime Agency as well as partner organisations to secure its systems, and to take further steps in line with law enforcement advice and its statutory duties relating to patient data.
"We are also following guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office and will ensure that anyone impacted by this data breach is contacted directly and supported," the statement added.
Hospital services remain unaffected and continue to run normally.
Alder Hey added that this incident is not linked to the ongoing incident at Wirral University Teaching Hospitals.
