GCHQ to monitor NHS cyber resilience during coronavirus

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is using emergency powers to give GCHQ special dispensation to access data on the NHS’s cyber security and other IT systems during the coronavirus pandemic.

As first reported in the HSJ, the measures seek to better protect the health service from cyber attack during this unprecedented period. This arrangement will expire automatically on 31 December 2020.

It means that the NHS and other public health bodies have to consent to the disclosure of any information relating to the security of any network or IT system that they hold, following warnings from GCHQ of a growing trend in coronavirus themed cyber attacks.

Last month, HSJ revealed the NHS was given a six-month extension to a deadline which requires organisations to complete cyber security checks.