BBC: 100 Romanian Hospitals Forced Back to Pen and Paper After Major Cyberattack

A significant cyberattack in early 2024 plunged over 100 Romanian hospitals into a state of digital disarray, forcing medical staff to abandon computer systems and revert to pen and paper.

The incident, which began unfolding in February 2024, saw hackers infiltrate the networks of hospitals across the country through a widely used medical software program. At the National Center for Cyber Security (DNSC) in Bucharest, personnel watched helplessly as the attack spread. The head of cybersecurity, Dan Cimpean, made the difficult decision to order an immediate disconnection from the internet for more than 100 affected hospitals.

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Ordinul a fost transmis către peste 100 de spitale: deconectați-vă de la internet, imediat.

This drastic measure halted the hackers' advance and bought crucial time for assessment, but it meant that all connected devices, emails, and web browsers became inaccessible. Medical personnel had to improvise alternative methods to ensure patient care while IT teams worked to resolve the issue and cyber investigators sought to understand the breach's origin and containment strategy. The response from medical staff during the four days following February 10, 2024, earned widespread international praise.

BBC highlighted the Romanian response as a benchmark for emergency planning specialists globally, offering guidance on how to react to such large-scale cyber threats. Dr. Oana Goidescu, on duty at Buzău Hospital, described the experience as "quite unpleasant," noting that a digital patient file contains far more than just a list of names, encompassing lab results, radiology, medications, and supplies – all of which vanished during the outage. The affected software, Hippocrates, is integral to the daily operations of doctors, nurses, and surgeons.

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Modul în care au reacționat și au făcut față situației a devenit un caz de referință pentru specialiștii în planificarea măsurilor de urgență la nivel internațional, în contextul în care autoritățile caută sfaturi privind modul de reacție la un atac cibernetic de amploare asupra unui spital.