China has the ability to shut down British hospitals ‘at the flick of a switch’ – and could even access the medical records of the Royal Family, security sources say.
Beijing’s army of hackers have compromised the computer systems of leading hospitals in the UK, giving them the ability to paralyse computer systems and cut power supplies.
Whitehall sources describe the NHS as the country’s ‘softest underbelly’ because of the antiquated nature of its IT systems, which frequently vary between hospital trusts.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping last month that he wants London and Beijing to pursue closer economic ties. In a 45-minute conversation initiated by Sir Keir, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to forge a ‘grown-up’ relationship between the countries.
Xi said that he hoped the UK would ‘look at China objectively and rationally’.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that a hacking attack on the British military by China, in which agents stole identities, bank details, addresses and national insurance numbers, had affected 270,000 serving personnel from all three services. There are particular concerns about the vulnerability of the NHS, and the apparent ease with which patient data can be accessed.
A source said: ‘Agents are testing our hospital systems all the time. We know that they have the ability to just ‘turn off’ hospitals if they want at the flick of a switch.
‘The first sign it was happening would be consultants’ computers freezing, then the power would be cut and the pass system would freeze.
‘It would take about 20 minutes for back-up power systems to kick in, and we should be able to restore normality within the hour. But a lot of damage could be done in that time.
‘They are able to access patient data. In theory they could hack the Royal Family’s medical records and place them on the internet.’
Government security advisers say that China enjoys demonstrating its power as an implicit ‘encouragement’ for the UK to pursue friendly diplomatic and economic relations, and remove export controls on its technology.
Last week ‘unusually aggressive and sophisticated’ Chinese hackers gained access to American government and military accounts. A group known as Volt Typhoon, which is linked to the Chinese government, exploited a so-called zero-day flaw – meaning the software maker was unaware of it before having time to deal with it – to target internet service providers.
Sir Keir’s Tory predecessors spoke out against China’s curbing of civil freedoms in Hong Kong and its treatment of the Uyghur people and other Muslims in its western Xinjiang region, and criticised China’s decision to take a neutral stance over the Ukraine conflict and to maintain close links with Moscow.
After the phone call between Sir Keir and Xi, No 10 said the Prime Minister ‘hoped the leaders would be able to have open, frank and honest discussions to address and understand areas of disagreement where necessary, such as Hong Kong, Russia’s war in Ukraine and human rights’.
Last night, Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘The NHS is an easy target because the IT is so poor. My Tory government was pathetically weak on China and it looks as if Labour are going to be even worse – a wishy-washy failure to stand up to a totalitarian state, no doubt encouraged by people like Peter Mandelson who have made money out of Beijing.’
A spokesman for NHS England said: ‘More than £338 million has been invested over the past seven years to help keep health and care organisations as safe as possible.
‘Our ambitious Cyber Improvement Programme will support the NHS to respond to the changing cyber threats, expand protection and reduce the risk of a successful attack.’
A Cabinet Office source said: ‘Robust systems are in place to detect and defend against potential cyber incidents.’