IT breaches at CUH despite doubling security spend

The hospital at the centre of a series of computer breaches spent twice as much on its IT security than planned budgets allowed during the period examined in a HSE audit.

The internal audit of Cork University Hospital (CUH) found the overspend occurred at the same time that chronic problems existed in the facility’s computer files defences. The detailed document, obtained by the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act as part of a large cache of internal reports, said CUH’s “nominal” IT budget for 2011 was €658,000.

However, over the course of the year, it spent €1.217m on computer data security and standards — almost double the planned figure. The audit team said the overspend occurred partially because of a lack of a detailed, sector-by-sector budget for IT services at the facility.