The BBC and other news outlets are reporting that a major incident has been declared after NHS services across England and Scotland were hit by a large-scale cyber-attack.
Staff cannot access patient data, which has been scrambled by ransomware. There is no evidence patient data has been compromised, NHS Digital has said, but it was confirmed that appointments had been cancelled, phone lines were down and patients and ambulances had been turned away.
Up to 25 NHS organizations and some Doctors’ (GP) practices have been affected.
It comes amid reports of cyber-attacks affecting organizations worldwide, for instance, in Spain, it was being reported that several companies had been hit by widespread ransomware infection.
The Daily Telegraph in London was reporting that the attack is part of a global cyber-attack.
Update: This threat is now known to be the WannaCry ransomware