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Stockholm in crisis mode after hacker attack on major hospital

Stockholm's regional authority is stepping up security after one of the major hospitals in the Swedish capital was targeted by unknown perpetrators in a cyber attack.

Stockholm in crisis mode after hacker attack on major hospital
Sophiahemmet is a private hospital at Norra Djurgården in Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/Scanpix

The hacker attack knocked out telephones at the privately run Sophiahemmet overnight between Monday and Tuesday. In response, the hospital shut down all its computers as a security measure.

Region Stockholm on Tuesday evening activated what’s known in Swedish as stabsläge, the lowest level on a three-point scale of heightened preparedness used in healthcare services.

It’s an official term which generally means that a specially designated management group within the healthcare services stays informed about the situation and how it develops, and acts accordingly.

“It’s a security measure, to be able to monitor the situation and quickly be able to make decisions if needed. But we have no indication that anyone else in the region is affected,” Elda Sparrelid, chief physician for Region Stockholm, told Swedish news agency TT on Wednesday.

It was on Wednesday morning not clear who was behind the cyber attack.

In the meantime, the hospital continues to operate according to backup procedures.

Sophiahemmet said it was looking after all its patients according to plan, but that waiting times may be longer than normal due to staff carrying out administrative duties by hand, using pen and paper.

It’s the latest in a spate of cyber attacks targeting Swedish businesses and public authorities in recent weeks, although it is not known whether or not this attack is connected to previous incidents.

The Dagens Nyheter newspaper reported on Tuesday that Bjuv, a small municipality of some 16,000 residents in southern Sweden, had received threats from Russian hacker group Akira.

Akira is threatening to leak data, which it stole from the municipality, in the form of “confidential documents, contracts, agreements, personal files” on the darknet market, an encrypted part of the internet which can only be accessed with the help of special software or settings.

Akira was also behind a major attack on IT supplier Tietoevry last month, which affected tens of thousands of employees at Swedish businesses and public authorities. However, the attack on Bjuv is believed to be a separate incident, according to Dagens Nyheter.

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STRIKES

Swedish healthcare strike: What nurses and midwives’ overtime ban means for you

A nationwide healthcare strike involving tens of thousands of Swedish nurses and midwives got under way on Thursday afternoon, after negotiations about salaries and rotas broke down.

Swedish healthcare strike: What nurses and midwives' overtime ban means for you

The industrial action, launched by the Swedish Association of Health Professionals, kicked off at 4pm on Thursday.

The union represents nurses, midwives, biomedical scientists and radiographers.

Up to 63,000 union members are affected by the strike, which means that they are to refuse to work overtime or extra shifts, and that employers may not hire new staff as long as the action is ongoing.

EXPLAINED:

Managers are exempt from the strike.

“We haven’t had any unreasonable expectations. We want to be able to have the energy to work full time, we want sustainable schedules and four weeks of continuous vacation in summer. We want higher wages so that it’s equal,” union chair Sineva Ribeiro said earlier this month.

“During the pandemic we were called superheroes and went to work on our days off to save lives. We were applauded then, but today we have to choose between falling ill ourselves or reducing our hours to part time to be able to cope. At the end of the day, patients take the hit,” she added.

She said the workers they represent in total worked 3 million hours in overtime last year.

But negotiations with SKR (the umbrella organisation for Swedish regions) and employer organisation Sobona have failed to bring the parties closer together. Late on Wednesday the union and SKR and Sobona again rejected each other’s proposals and counter proposals.

Healthcare services are generally urging patients to turn up to scheduled appointments (although as healthcare is managed on a regional basis in Sweden, it may make sense to check with your healthcare provider), but warn that surgeries may have to be cancelled.

“There’s a risk that we will have to reduce our capacity for planned surgeries and you will be informed if your surgery is affected,” Region Sörmland writes on its website.

“We prioritise emergencies and healthcare that cannot wait without risking life or long-term health,” Region Halland’s healthcare director Martin Engström writes in a statement.

Region Kronoberg and Blekinge meanwhile warn of longer waiting times for test results.

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