Stephen Donnelly has revealed there are “extensive” uncompromised copies of patient data backed up by the HSE.
The update from the Minister for Health is one of the first bits of good news in the Russian criminal gang cyber attack saga.
It means that the sensitive medical information of hundreds of thousands - or millions - of people could be safe.
However, there is still the ongoing threat from the criminals that they could deliver a massive ‘data dump’ of all the information they hold onto the Dark Web.
Mr Donnelly described as “a despicable attack on the people of Ireland” the malware that has effectively brought the HSE to its knees after its computer systems had to be shut down during last Friday’s hack.
The Minister for Health also revealed that the similar attack by the same Russian gang on his own department last Thursday failed after “the malware didn’t detonate”.
Mr Donnelly told RTE’s News at One the HSE have back-ups of patient files.
He said: “There’s some good news in that there are quite substantial back-ups and the information we’re being given from the experts is that a lot of them have not been compromised.
“Now, it doesn’t mean we’ll have perfect back-ups, but there are back-ups there and that historic patient data will be accessible.”
Mr Donnelly slammed the hack.
He added: “It really is a despicable attack and it’s an attack, not just on the HSE, it’s an attack on the people of Ireland and it’s an attack most importantly on the patients and their families.
“The individual reports and testimonies we’re hearing are heartbreaking.”
