JV Lucey: HSE Cyberattack remind us we need to prepare for long-overlooked risks

We place our trust in regulatory agencies and so we expect them to take responsibility for our ‘risk’ management.

This year of siege has been followed by an invasion from yet another invisible enemy. Our health service, our largest Government agency, has been disabled by a cyberattack.

"In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.” ― Abraham Lincoln 

Times of jeopardy remind us of the need to prepare for risks we have overlooked for too long. When one hazard seems to follow another almost ‘as night follows day’ we ask ourselves about our readiness for future events. This year of siege has been followed by another invasion from yet another invisible enemy. Our health services, our largest government agency, have been disabled by a cyber-attack. While it is hard for anyone to know what to do next, I would like to suggest that the wisest approach would be to direct our efforts to sustain what Abraham Lincoln called ‘public sentiment’.