Getting the message The recent ransomware attack on the HSE and Department of Health has highlighted the need for an appropriate back-up communication tool when the system is down. Peter Doyle reports The chaos began to unfold on May 14 – the day when the country woke up to find its health service was under siege from an unscrupulous gang of computer hackers. With Health Service Executive (HSE) staff unable to access patient data, men, women and children arriving at hospital clinics for potentially life-saving treatments such as radiotherapy were told their appointments had been cancelled until further notice. It later emerged that the hi-tech criminal gang had left a digital note on HSE servers, informing health managers it would cost the Irish taxpayer $20 million (€16.3m) to get the encrypted files unlocked.