The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) says it has rebuilt and restored some of its critical information technology infrastructure and systems severely affected by a cyberattack.
As of August 1, some services have been brought back online in a phased manner, beginning with academic and larger laboratories countrywide, the laboratory service said.
These services included laboratory registration, results processing and reporting via the Laboratory Information System.
“This means that healthcare professionals can now obtain patient results online through the NHLS Laboratory Web Results Viewer, giving them access to crucial patient information needed for patient care continuity.
“Bringing the Laboratory Information System back online is expected to significantly reduce the pressure and backlog associated with manual processes used by NHLS laboratories to collate and communicate results to physicians, streamlining the process and enhancing efficiency,” the NHLS said.
Police last month confirmed they were investigating a cyberattack.
The NHLS had been forced to communicate all urgent results by telephone to requesting clinicians. Under normal circumstances, the laboratory reports are automatically generated and sent to clinicians or made available on WebView, but the attack disabled that functionality.
The security breach was confirmed in June and compromised the NHLS systems and infrastructure. Meanwhile, global financial and immigration services firm, Sable International, said it had contacted clients whose personal data was compromised following a cyberattack.
“Despite the robust measures we have in place, we have nonetheless become a victim of a sophisticated, criminal cyberattack,” Sable International said.
“We have launched an extensive internal investigation into the extent of the data breach.
“The current results of our investigation show that, at this stage, a limited number of clients have had their personal data compromised. We have already contacted these clients and are working with them to help mitigate the risk posed by this incident. Our investigation is ongoing, so should we become aware that any further clients have been impacted, we will contact them immediately.”
Sable International said it had also come to their attention that some clients have been sent email communication that originates from the hacker.
“We ask that if you receive such a communication that you do not respond, and contact us immediately.”
According to the company, the breach was reported to the relevant regulatory and law enforcement authorities in South Africa and the UK.
Cybersecurity expert Grant Hughes, however said: “In cybersecurity, the battlefield is always uneven. A cybercriminal can buy one tool for R1 000 and target 100 organisations with it.
Each organisation, in turn, needs to spend R50 000 or more just to defend against that tool...If you are entrusting your personal and sensitive data to an organisation, you have the right to ask how they will use and protect your information.”
PI Tech and Cyber Underwriter for SHA Risk Specialists, Nikita Naicker, said cybercriminals were ready to exploit vulnerabilities and take advantage of loopholes and would even use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to better disguise their attacks.
“More and more corporates are becoming reliant on AI to streamline their operations. However, with the technology being relatively new, the risks are yet to be fully understood, which makes business more susceptible to cyberattacks. We anticipate that AI will have a medium to high impact on the risk landscape in the near future,” said Naicker.
Some of the most noticeable developments in cybercrime also include an increase in ransomware threats.
Cape Times