All the internal and external IT systems of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) remain down following an attempted ransomware attack by an unidentified actor this past weekend, reports Fin24.

‘All our systems remain inaccessible both internally and externally, including to and from healthcare facilities, until the integrity of the environment is secured and repaired,’ said Profesor Koleka Mlisana, the CEO of the NHLS in a statement yesterday afternoon.

The NHLS has a huge network of laboratories that are used for testing in the public health sector.

Samples of body fluids, tissue, and cells are analysed to help detect, diagnose and treat diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis. Mlisana said that preliminary reports indicate that client information has not been leaked.

‘All patient data is safe. The investigation indicated that a ransomware virus was utilised to target selected points in the NHLS IT systems, rendering them inaccessible and blocking communication from the LIS and other databases to and from users,’ Mlisana said.

The cyberattack was not without consequence, though as Mlisana said that sections of the NHLS IT system had been ‘deleted’ owing to the system shutdown.

‘Sections of our system have been deleted, including in our backup server, and this will require rebuilding the affected parts.’

Foster Mohale, a spokesperson at the Department of Health, said the department had been informed about the ‘unfortunate incident’.

Nomzamo Zondi, spokesperson for the Information Regulator, said on Monday evening that the NHLS had not reported the incident at that stage.

Full Fin24 report