NHS Dumfries and Galloway has been the target of a focused and ongoing cyber attack.
And health bosses say there’s a rick that the hackers have been able to acquire ‘a significant quantity of data’.
Patients are also being warned there may be some disruption to services as a result of this situation.
However, reassurances have been given of ‘a swift response’ with the Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Agency and the Scottish Government all involved.
A spokesperson this morning said: “Work is continuing together with cyber security agencies to investigate what data may have been accessed, but we have reason to believe that this could include patient-identifiable and staff-identifiable data.
“Breach of confidential data is an incredibly serious matter. We are encouraging everyone, staff and public, to be on their guard for any attempt to access their systems or approaches from anyone claiming to be in possession of data relating to them. In any of these situations, contact Police Scotland immediately by phoning 101.”
Meanwhile, a dedicated web-page has been established on the NHS Dumfries and Galloway website, available at this address: www.nhsdg.co.uk/cyberattack
