A global IT outage has caused major disruption, knocking airlines, banks and train companies offline.
NHS England said it is causing disruption in “the majority of GP practices” in England, with surgeries reporting they’re unable to access patient records or book appointments. There is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services.
{snip}
With more and more people across the world becoming reliant on technology for essential services, GB News asked technology experts just how prepared we are, in the UK and globally, for mass IT outages.
According to Iain James, computer systems manager, at care management software provider Fusion eCare Solutions, the incident underscores the “urgent need” for diversification and resilience in our “technological backbone”.He said it also serves as a “wake-up call” for the technology industry to reassess security protocols.
“This incident starkly highlights our global dependence on IT infrastructure and exposes the vulnerabilities inherent in relying on a handful of major tech corporations,” James said.
“The reverberations of this event will be felt far and wide, prompting a deeper examination of how we safeguard our digital world.”
{snip}
He warned many organisations don’t have a risk-based approach to cybersecurity, creating a “huge risk”.
Dearing said: “If a simple bug can cause mayhem, then consider what a concerted cyberattack could have.
“It’s only a matter of time before we see a catastrophic attack on our critical infrastructure, yet many organisations still have not adopted a risk-based approach to cybersecurity, which means they don’t necessarily understand where the vulnerabilities are.
“This presents a huge risk at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.”
Alan Stephenson-Brown, CEO of Evolve, a senior international telecommunication, network security, and payments specialist, echoed this sentiment, warning today’s global IT outage is a “timely reminder that operational resilience should be at the forefront of the business agenda”.
He said the problems demonstrate that even large corporations aren’t immune to IT troubles, and urged business leaders to take a serious look at their systems.
{snip}
“By prioritising both contingency planning and preventative measures, IT systems can be protected.
“I urge business leaders to seriously appraise the systems they have in place to identify potential vulnerabilities before they find themselves the subject of the next IT outages headline.”
While smartphones and contactless payments are forms of technology we are very familiar with, other uses of tech aren’t quite as visible in our day to day lives.
{snip}
Simon Harris, the CEO of the large facilities management company Avrenim, expressed concerns about companies”pushing AI” in certain installations given today’s outage.
He said there needs to be vital cyber checks and assessments if smart technology were to be used in critical infrastructure.
“If you think about the chaos today, and transpose that into a critical build environment like a hospital, which we manage, then you’ve got the potential capability there to take a hospital out. That makes it really scary,” he warned.
* Original Article:
https://www.gbnews.com/tech/it-outage-global-infrastructure-technology-reliance