NHS Test and Trace is working with British cybersecurity company Risk Ledger to proactively manage cybersecurity risks in their supply chain.

The UK government-funded service, which was established to track and help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in England, will utilise Risk Ledger's secure 'social network' platform, which allows organisations to connect and share risk data securely.

Risk Ledger's client base includes organisations like BAE AI, City of London Police, Telenor, Schroder's Personal Wealth and ASOS.

WHY IT MATTERS

NHS and other critical national infrastructure organisations face increasing risks from supply chain cyber-attacks.

These risks can include third parties failing to encrypt sensitive data when it is being transferred.

Risk Ledger’s platform will provide NHS Test and Trace with visibility of its supply chain and a set of data to identify, measure and mitigate security risks at scale. 

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Major supply chain cybersecurity breaches at Solarwinds and Microsoft in recent months have put the challenge of securing supply chains at the top of the agenda for organisations around the world.

Serco, the outsourcing firm behind NHS Test and Trace, confirmed in February that parts of its infrastructure in mainland Europe had experienced a double extortion ransomware attack from cybercriminals.

Ireland’s health service was recently hit by a ransomware attack, which saw It systems being shut down as a precaution.
French insurance company Mutuelle Nationale des Hospitaliers (MNH) also suffered a ransomware attack earlier this year, which disrupted the company's healthcare operations.

ON THE RECORD

Minister for digital infrastructure, Matt Warman said: “The government is working tirelessly to secure the nation online and grow the UK's £8.9 billion cyber security industry as we build back better from the pandemic. We're helping SMEs develop innovative products and services and it's great to see Risk Ledger, one of the firms we've supported, win this contract to protect the Test and Trace system and support the national effort against coronavirus.”

Risk Ledger CEO and cofounder Haydn Brooks said: "NHS Test and Trace is essentially the biggest new start-up in the UK healthcare market so we are delighted they have chosen to take advantage of our ability to provide enhanced visibility of their supply chain risks. I am proud we will be part of the effort to secure this incredibly important supply chain.

"Healthcare organisations and their supply chains handle lots of highly sensitive data and have a high rate of data breaches. We have already seen during the COVID-19 pandemic that bad actors are actively targeting supply chains to access data and cause disruption.”