NHS cyberattack exposes details of a million patients

NHS details of more than a million patients have been compromised in a cyberattack, senior health chiefs have been warned

- REBECCA THOMAS

A recent ransomware attack on the University of Manchester affected an NHS patient data set that holds information on 1.1 million patients across 200 hospitals, leaks to The Independent have confirmed.

Among the details potentially exposed are NHS numbers and the first three letters of patients’ postcodes. The information – which includes records of major trauma patients across the country and people treated after terror attacks – was gathered by the university for research purposes. In its warning to health officials, the university said it did not know how many patients were affected or whether names had also been hacked.

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