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How 100 hospitals switched to pen and paper to defeat a national cyber-attack
bbc ^ | 06/23/2026 | Joe Tidy

Posted on 06/23/2026 5:43:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin

At Bucharest's national cyber-security centre (DNSC) they watched helplessly as the hackers spread across Romania through a popular piece of medical software.

The order went out to more than 100 hospitals. Disconnect from the internet, now.

The cyber-attack on Romania's hospitals in February 2024 is one of the worst to target healthcare systems around the world, but these incidents are becoming increasingly common.

Cutting off 100 hospitals in Romania from the internet stopped the hackers in their tracks, buying time to work out how bad the attack was.

But it meant no connected devices, emails or web browsers.

...

Hippocrates [software] is used by doctors, nurses and surgeons to manage everything from admissions to payroll, pharmacy logistics and test results.

Quietly, the cyber-attackers had begun infecting hospitals across the country that used the system with a ransomware strain called BackMyData. Files were being scrambled into gibberish and the demand was a ransom in bitcoin.

...

Hospital doctors responded by creating workarounds to protect patients until things were back online.

"When we saw the system would not be repaired quickly, we developed an offline method so we could register every patient," said Vlad Paic from Carol Davila Hospital in Bucharest.

"We asked the laboratory to give us results on paper. We used Excel and other offline tools to ensure care was not affected."

Some doctors said the fallback to more analogue processes was helped by Romania's relatively recent shift to digital systems.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: internet; romania

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1 posted on 06/23/2026 5:43:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

One of the AI companies announced it had developed a large language model able to hack into any computer system. Having everything connected to the internet is a recipe for disaster.


2 posted on 06/23/2026 5:46:54 AM PDT by packagingguy
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To: BenLurkin

IMHO the AI stock bubble is already bursting. Hacking stories will make it burst more.


3 posted on 06/23/2026 5:48:14 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: packagingguy

Yep, been saying that one day AI will figure out how to take down the entire Internet.

Then the fun really begins.


4 posted on 06/23/2026 5:49:14 AM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: FrogMom; dayglored; Conan the Librarian; McGruff; TornadoAlley3; Eagles6; Cedar; dforest; ...
Ping Me When the Internet Goes Down ping

If anyone wants on or off the Ping Me When the Internet Goes Down pinglist, kindly FReepmail me. Thanks!

5 posted on 06/23/2026 5:54:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

EMRs, thank you GWB, were never about efficiency or safety.


6 posted on 06/23/2026 5:57:28 AM PDT by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away! 🇺🇸 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)
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To: BenLurkin

Our finances, medical records, and personal data are safe on the internet they said......


7 posted on 06/23/2026 5:59:35 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: BenLurkin

This was the exact plotline of an episode of The Pitt this past season, where the hospital shut down their network due to the threat of a cyberattack.

It was funny watching all the Gen Z/Millennial staff acting totally bewildered when they went off the grid, having no clue how to deal with paper charts, whiteboards, carbon copy forms, having to run things via courier between the ED/Lab/Radiology, how to hook up a fax machine, etc.

All the Gen X staff just kicked in their memories of old procedures from the 80’s and 90’s, keeping things functioning until they got back online.


8 posted on 06/23/2026 6:03:31 AM PDT by pburiak (You really think we can vote our way out of this? That's so cute...)
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To: mewzilla

BTW, since we’re on the subject of EMRs and Rand Paul has suddenly evinced an interest getting to the bottom of the scamdemic and the killer CoupFlu vaxxes...

There are, IIRC, 20 MDs serving in Congress.

All should be familiar with medical coding, along with the changes to medical coding during and since CoupFlu.

All of those doctors, if they bothered to took at what the coding was telling them, would have known that something horrific was going on.

Did they choose not to look...?

Did they look and remain silent...?

Did they look and participate in the cover-up...?

Seems like Congress, especially those 20 MDs,ought to be in the hot seat right along with their witnesses.


9 posted on 06/23/2026 6:10:56 AM PDT by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away! 🇺🇸 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)
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To: mewzilla

“Did they look and participate in the cover-up...?”

Why weren’t they and their staffs required to get the jab?


10 posted on 06/23/2026 6:24:54 AM PDT by dljordan (Yeah, I'm a BooYou must be able to hit the bullseyemer and it's all my fault you whiny little bitch.)
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To: BenLurkin

I just do not understand why hospitals need connection to the outside for their medical transactions.


11 posted on 06/23/2026 6:25:45 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Tell It Right

I PREDICT DATA CENTERS WILL BE VIEWED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN THE FUTURE AS VERY STRANGE BUILDINGS WITH NO RECOGNIZABLE USE.

STANDING OUT IN RURAL AREAS AS MONUMENTS TO COMPLETE STUPID SUBSERVIENCE


12 posted on 06/23/2026 6:35:20 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: dfwgator

About five years ago my company got hacked by the Russians.
We were without PCs for a month or two.
The only computer that still worked was the IBM AS400 that we had been using since the 1980s. The company contacted one of our retired IT guys because he was the only one who knew how to use it.

We were back to writing out order confirmations by hand on the same forms we used back in the 1980s. I helped make a new form for our transportation people to fill out Bill of Ladings.

We eventually paid the ransom and got back our systems.
Since then we have all had to go through hours of training about NOT clicking on links, fishing emails, etc.


13 posted on 06/23/2026 6:57:32 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: 1Old Pro

“Our finances, medical records, and personal data are safe on the internet they said......”

Your social security number is not to be used for ID.

The vaccine is safe and effective.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.


14 posted on 06/23/2026 7:04:25 AM PDT by Texas resident ( We finally have an American President again)
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To: BenLurkin

I have a feeling that this isn't going to work too well with the quality of today's workforce.

15 posted on 06/23/2026 7:21:24 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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