The Manx government has issued a statement after reports of a cyber-attack which has hit organisations around the world.

In the UK, a total of 48 National Health trusts were hit by Friday’s cyber-attack.

But the Isle of Man Cabinet Office wants to reassure people that Manx government systems were not affected.

The Cabinet Office issued the following statement in response to the news: ’The Isle of Man Government’s computer systems, including the island’s health care systems, have not been affected by the cyber-attacks against many countries and organisations in the past day.’  

Richard Wild, executive director for Government Technology Services (GTS), the shared service for all of government, said that they were working with international cyber security organisations to monitor the situation as it developed and took immediate action to alert users of the government system to exercise additional vigilance.  

The statement continued: ’As a result of the ongoing investment into security defences as part of the digital strategy, the government’s computer systems and software were successfully protected from this attack.

’GTS has a strict policy of maintaining up to date systems and software, including the installation last March of the necessary patches which blocked this malicious code.

’Although the Isle of Man Government was unaffected in this global incident, GTS will continue to proactively monitor for threats, collaborate with partner organisations and invest in specialist staff and systems.’ 

Mr Wild added this advice to help the general public protect itself from similar cyber-attacks.

Always:

1. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking on links in emails

2. Back up important data on an external source not connected to the internet

3. Keep your operating system, applications and in particular your anti-virus software up to date