NHS facing more cyber-attacks since coronavirus outbreak

GCHQ director also reveals spy centre had a hand in developing NHS contact-tracing app, reports Jon Sharman

A resident of the Isle of Wight poses with his smartphone showing the NHS Coronavirus contact tracing app after it was trialled on the island (AFP)

The health service has been targeted by rising numbers of cyber attacks since the outbreak of coronavirus, British spies say.

Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, said hackers had tried to access sensitive information about the UK’s response to the pandemic – including vaccine research – by aiming for the “low-hanging fruit” of human error and poor security practices like the use of weak passwords.

The intruders could be individual criminals or nation states, he said. GCHQ’s cybersecurity wing, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), is helping the NHS deal with the onslaught.