48.1 F
Washington D.C.
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Accenture to Secure Britain’s Health Service

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has signed a contract with Accenture to provide cybersecurity services.

The NHS was the victim of the WannaCry cyber attack in 2017. Hospitals and doctor surgeries in England and Scotland were hit by the ransomware attack, costing the NHS over £90 million. Key systems were affected, necessitating a return to pen and paper as patients were turned away, appointments cancelled, and citizens advised to seek medical care only in emergencies.

Accenture’s new services will allow NHS organizations to better secure and manage all of the digital networks that they operate and use.  Expert security specialists within the NHS will have an even broader view of cyber threats across the NHS, allowing them to spot and respond quickly to emerging problems, while reducing cyber risks.

Accenture will also be using technology provided by Palo Alto Networks and Imperva.

The contract was procured by NHS Digital, working with the National Cyber Security Centre and NHSX, and will provide hospital trusts and other care settings the chance to get free, leading-edge perimeter security features, including next-generation firewall, secure filtering for web content, network intrusion detection and prevention capabilities, data loss prevention, and secure DNS services.

Rob Shaw, Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Digital, said the more organizations that join, the better the cyber experts will be able to see what is happening across the estate.

“This means that we will be able to monitor for threats more effectively, supporting the NHS to increase data security and helping to provide safer care for patients.”

Accenture to Secure Britain’s Health Service Homeland Security Today
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby has more than 20 years' experience in reporting and editing a wide range of security topics, covering geopolitical and policy analysis to international and country-specific trends and events. Before joining GTSC's Homeland Security Today staff, she was an editor and contributor for Jane's, and a columnist and managing editor for security and counter-terror publications.
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby
Kylie Bielby has more than 20 years' experience in reporting and editing a wide range of security topics, covering geopolitical and policy analysis to international and country-specific trends and events. Before joining GTSC's Homeland Security Today staff, she was an editor and contributor for Jane's, and a columnist and managing editor for security and counter-terror publications.

Related Articles

Latest Articles