Massive spending is needed to prevent another critical cyber attack on NHS computer systems after a ransomware attack hit 11 health boards in Scotland last month, as well as many other organisations worldwide.
Prof Bill Buchanan told MSPs the attack should act as a "wake-up call" to the government and health service. And he warned the NHS faced bigger threats, such as a large-scale power outage, that could cause loss of life.
Holyrood's health committee heard the WannaCry virus found its way into Scottish NHS systems either through their connection with the NHS England network or through the internet. It was able to spread through computers that were vulnerable through a combination of their use of a particular piece of software that shares information
between devices, a particular network firewall configuration and the fact they had not been upgraded or "patched up" to the latest version of Microsoft software.
