The WannaCry ransomware attack on NHS has been marked as one of the deadliest ransomware attacks ever. While there was a lack of conclusive evidence regarding the damages done in some of the initial reports, current reports have shed light on the fact that the attack could have cost the NHS more than 92 million pounds.
The estimate has been released by the Department of Health and Social Care. The Department released figures suggesting that the loss could be over 92 million— as per the reports studying the impact of the malware attack.
The NHS has failed to release any concrete figure of the damage sustained during the May 2017 attack, and the DHSC admits that these figures are a broad estimate and cover both the time during and immediately after the attack.
During the course of the attack, from 12th May to 18th May, it was expected that over 19 million pounds were lost in relation to patient care outputs. This figure was estimated through the finding that 1 percent of NHS services were disrupted for a one-week period. In addition to these lost services, researchers have admitted that an initial 500,000 pounds were spent on dealing with the immediate repercussions of the IT failure. This also included the cost of hiring additional consultants for the job.
The biggest costs, however, are believed to have come in the June and July period that immediately followed the WannaCry attack. These costs are estimated to be upwards of 72 million pounds, as the NHS worked tirelessly to resume full services and restore all the data that was lost during the attack.
The attack affected over more than 200,000 computers and is said to be one of the most vicious of all ransomware attacks.
