Services continue at Coombe Hospital following overnight cyberattack 

In May this year, the Coombe was one of the hospitals hit by the Conti ransomware gang who targeted the whole HSE. File photo

The public will be kept informed about progress in the investigation into a cyber-attack at the Coombe Hospital last night, Minister for State for Cyber Security, Ossian Smyth has assured.

Ossian Smyth said he and his team are examining computers at the Dublin facility.

Cyberhackers struck again last night, this time targeting the Coombe maternity hospital in Dublin.

Services have not been affected, but computer systems have been encrypted and access has been locked from hospital staff.

Mr Smyth said his department will be keeping the public up to speed on any progress.

“Just like with the HSE attack, we will keep the public fully informed. We’re going to take a very open approach to this and we will let people know as we go along what progress we make with the inquiry," he said.

The attack took place overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, and the hospital has now “locked down” all IT networks and systems.

A spokeswoman said this was done “on a precautionary basis” and they are working with the HSE to fix the problem.

“We wish to reassure all of those accessing our services that these services are continuing as normal,” she said.

In May this year, the Coombe was one of the hospitals hit by the Conti ransomware gang who targeted the whole HSE. At that time their imaging system known as NIMIS was completely down, and the hospital had to revert to paper charts to keep track of patients.

A paper-based system was also installed to start the Covid vaccination programme for pregnant women.

The HSE said it was aware of the ransomware attack but said there is no evidence of any impact beyond the Coombe.

"We are aware of a ransomware attack on IT systems at the Coombe," it said in a statement.

"This has impacted several systems in the hospital. HSE teams are working with colleagues in the Coombe and have disconnected the facility from the National Health Network. At this point, we have not seen evidence of an impact external to the Coombe Hospital but we are continuing, with external support, to assess whether there is any broader impact. We will share further information as we have it."