The Irish Government assured this Monday that the “repair” of the damage caused by the cyberattack on the computer system of the National Health Service will cost “tens of millions of euros”.

Its executive director, Paul Reid, explained today that, in addition to the financial cost, the “data hijacking attack” detected last Thursday continues to cause “serious disruption” to the HSE, which has since kept many of its computer systems closed, which it has caused the cancellation of thousands of appointments and health services.

The manager indicated that the cyberattack was a “very serious and sophisticated blow” directed at “each” of the 2,000 systems that make up the HSE computer network, although experts have already established during the weekend “an initial basis for rebuilding it “in the next few days.

However, he warned that it is still too early to determine the “total impact” that the attack will have on each of these systems and to ensure whether “they will be stable” by the end of this week.

Reid also said he does not know how much money the hackers have asked to “release” all the hijacked information, as this matter is now in “the hands of national security teams.”

In this regard, the Irish Prime Minister, Micheál Martin, stressed that the Government “will not pay any ransom.”

“It will take several days to assess the impact. The important thing is that people cooperate with the HSE, that the emergency services are working and that the vaccination program against covid-19 has not been interrupted,” said Martin.

Reid said today that the priority now is for up to 19 hospitals across the country to reactivate “independent computer systems” and to regain “some connectivity in the HSE systems.”

In parallel, he added, the HSE is working to reopen “diagnostic, oncology and patient laboratory results systems,” as well as “internal email services.”

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