Cyber attack: Ministry does not expect hospitals in Malaysia to be affected by ransomware

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry was also informed that the government was improving the special control system dealing with cyber security threats such as this.

"At the moment, the ransomware attack probably will not have a major impact on our country because we still do not have a national integrated health database system, only separate ones. In England, they have this system and if hit by a cyber attack, the overall database system across the country will also be affected.

"However, we are certainly in the course of integrating it, and when it happens, this is one of the risks. This is because if one place is affected, it is possible it can damage the system in the whole country," he told reporters after launching the national level World Malaria Day programme at Dewan Putra, Felda Palong Timur here, Saturday.

Dr Subramanian, who is Segamat Member of Parliament, said there was no need for the people, including doctors, to worry about ransomware attack because the database system had not been integrated yet in the country.

"Every hospital in the country has their own system, even if affected by a cyber attack only the particular hospital will be affected and not the whole country.

"Moreover our (Ministry of Health) system is managed by the Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). In addition, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia has also been tasked to look after cyber security in the country," he said.

Today, newspapers reported hospitals staff and surgeons across England had to push patients and cancel appointments after a cyber attack crippled a portion of the computer system operating the country's health services.

In the meantime, Dr Subramanian said malaria cases in the country showed a decline of more than 90 percent since the implementation of the Malaria Eradication Programme over the last four decades.

He said the long-term measure would ultimately have a positive effect in making Malaysia free of malaria by 2020.