"If you don't have the backup, you are starting from zero, which means you've lost all the data," she said. Zincir-Heywood, a cybersecurity researcher, says it could be a time-consuming task to find the most recent uninfected backup, depending on how Newfoundland and Labrador's system is set up. The province has declined to release details of the attack, but Shipley says it appears the likeliest explanation is that hackers infiltrated the information technology network and are demanding payment in return for access, which is known as a ransomware attack.ĭalhousie University computer science professor Nur Zincir-Heywood said Tuesday in an interview ransomware attack programs can sometimes "stay in and eavesdrop for weeks and months," adding that they can spread into backup data storage.
"We have to ask if the X-ray images are gone, and are the CT scan images gone." The worst scenario would be a loss of patient data needed to treat people, including for complex cancers and other long-term illnesses, he added. "They're going to have to scrub all the equipment, they're going to have rebuild everything from scratch. "If (the hackers) got the primary data records and they got the backups, we're into a world of hurt," the cybersecurity expert said Tuesday. However, David Shipley, CEO of New Brunswick-based Beauceron Security, said in an interview that the loss of data backups invoked by Haggie is concerning, because the rebuilding process could take weeks or months to complete. The RCMP on Tuesday announced a criminal investigation involving officers with cyberthreat expertise, and a spokeswoman for the province's Department of Digital Government cited the police probe in declining to disclose further details about the attack's impact. There's been no official update since then. "The data centre has two brains, and both of them have been affected by whatever the system's failure was," Haggie said during Monday's news conference. Health Minister John Haggie disclosed Monday the health system's data centre and its backup were affected by an attack, which led to the cancellation of thousands of medical appointments. Cybersecurity experts said Tuesday they are worried about the extent of damage to the databanks of Newfoundland and Labrador's health system following a cyberattack detected on the weekend.
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