Irish health service hit by 'very sophisticated' ransomware attack

National flag of Ireland flies above the President's residence in Dublin, August 25, 2018. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez - RC12C3B40540

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ireland's health service operator shut down all its IT systems on Friday to protect them from a "significant" ransomware attack, crippling diagnostic services, disrupting COVID-19 testing and forcing hospitals to cancel many appointments.

Ireland's COVID-19 vaccination programme was not disrupted as it is on a different system, but the attack was affecting IT systems serving all other local and national health provision, the head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said.