Sir, – I read with interest and amusement your report on HSE chief executive Paul Reid's press briefing prior to the release of the PwC report on the HSE cyber attack ("Opening of email attachment led to HSE cyber attack", report finds", News, December 11th).
The PwC report has some wonderful bureaucratic doublespeak. Here’s one example. “There was a known low level of cybersecurity maturity”. In plain English that means that HSE personnel knew the protections were inadequate but did nothing about it.
Mr Reid introduced one of his own. He said that the response to the alerts that were raised did not involve the response that “should have occurred”. “Occurred”? Was it an automated process?
Were there no people involved in the response?
In plain English, HSE personnel saw the alerts but did not take appropriate remedial action.
Mr Reid also said that after the initial alert, over the following eight weeks, a number of “alerts” were raised that the IT system might be compromised, but the significance of the alerts was not identified at the time.
The alerts indicated that the IT system “might be compromised” – a matter of the utmost gravity. Again in plain English, that means the HSE saw the alerts but did not take appropriate remedial action.
What form of English would have been required for the alerts to galvanise the HSE?
It’s good to know that the HSE is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. But a more important question is “whose heads have rolled in the meantime?” as punishment for this ghastly failure? – Yours, etc,
JIM MURPHY,
Navan,
Co Meath.
Sir, – The recently published report into the HSE cyber attack highlights a number of missed opportunities to prevent the ensuing hacking which led to the crippling of our health service.
If a healthcare professional failed to act on a repeated series of warnings in relation to the health and wellbeing of a patient under their care they would be referred to their professional body and held accountable for their inaction.
Who will be taking responsibility for this debacle and how will they be held to account? – Yours, etc,
Dr PETER McCARTHY,
Dublin 8.