NHS cyberattack: Trusts were told about security patch last month
NHS Digital has told Sky News a link to a fix that would have prevented Friday's attack was sent to NHS IT staff last month.
Monday 15 May 2017 14:41, UK
NHS England hospital trusts were sent details of a security patch last month that would have prevented Friday's malware attack.
NHS Digital has confirmed to Sky News that the patch was made available on its cyber portal on 25 April, and a link sent to NHS IT staff on 27 April.
A spokesman said: "Our understanding is that if that had been acted on it would have prevented (the malware attack)."
NHS organisations across the country were on alert for a possible recurrence of Friday's cyberattack as staff returned to work on Monday.
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Cyber security experts had warned that the ransomware virus, which affected one in five NHS trusts, could be reactivated by computers and devices that had not yet been switched on.
But speaking publicly for the first time since the cyberattack, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that "according to the latest intelligence we have not seen a second wave of attacks".
Home Secretary Amber Rudd will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency COBRA committee later.
More than 200,000 victims in about 150 countries were infected by the ransomware known as Wanna Decryptor, which encrypts files on a user's computer, blocking them from view and demanding a payment to release them.
In total 47 NHS organisations reported being affected - and the disruption has continued into the new working week.
Seven hospital trusts are still experiencing serious problems, among them St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust and the University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust.
Labour has accused the Government of a "chaotic" response, and claimed cuts had left hospitals "wide open" to being compromised.
Problems with cyber security in the NHS was highlighted last year by Dame Fiona Caldicott, the national data guardian, who warned issues were given insufficient priority and that health bodies persisted in using obsolete computer systems, The Times reported.
Dame Fiona and the Care Quality Commission wrote to the Health Secretary to highlight a "lack of understanding of security issues", according to the newspaper, and that "the external cyber threat is becoming a bigger consideration".
They proposed a plan to improve security that included a replacement of outdated systems "as a matter of urgency", calling the continued use "one of the most pressing issues facing IT infrastructure" in the NHS.
But Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected claims the Government ignored warnings the health service was vulnerable, and said the Government was putting £2bn into cyber security.
Asked if warnings had been ignored, Mrs May said: "No. It was clear warnings were given to hospital trusts but this is not something that focused on attacking the NHS here in the UK."
The PM's spokesman played down suggestions the use of outdated Windows XP software had placed the NHS at additional risk.
Other Windows systems had also been affected and just 4.7% of NHS systems were still running XP, he said.