The Irish health service shut down its IT systems on Friday after a major ransomware attack.
The Health Services Executive (HSE) canceled outpatient visits and other services, but said emergency services and immunization appointments would continue.
“There is a significant ransomware attack on HSE IT systems. We have taken the precaution of shutting down all of our IT systems to protect them from this attack and to allow us to fully assess the situation with our own security partners, ”the service said on its home page.
Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he would be in regular contact with HSE CEO Paul Reid to protect personal information and the system.
“This is having a severe impact on our health and social care services today, but individual services and hospital groups are affected in different ways,” he tweeted.
The incident comes days after hackers attacked Colonial Pipeline with a ransomware attack. The company shut down the pipeline when it was hacked, leading to fuel shortages across the eastern US.
