Hospitals in London:

Ransomware cyber attack leads to surgery postponements

Operations have been postponed in London hospitals due to a cyber attack. Blood transfusions were also not possible, reported the specialist journal "Health Service Journal" (HSJ), citing internal information from the NHS. The reason for this was a "serious IT incident" at a pathology service provider. Some procedures and operations had been forwarded to other providers, it continued.

The Lonon hospitals Guy's and St. Thomas' were also affected. King's College Hospital confirmed the attack to the British news agency PA.

According to the HSJ report, this is a so-called ransomware attack, in which criminals encrypt the data of companies or public administration and demand a ransom for decryption. It will take "weeks rather than days" before data is accessible again, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

There has been speculation that emergency care in hospitals could be affected, as it may not be possible to access blood test results at short notice. Pathology departments help diagnose and treat diseases and infections by analyzing samples, including blood and tissue.