'Obsolete' NHS Highland website in need of urgent upgrade
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NHS Highland is urgently seeking a contractor to redevelop its "security compromised" website.
The health board has placed a notice in Public Contracts Scotland seeking tenders.
In the notice it is revealed that the technical architecture was "obsolete" and its outdated infrastructure rendered "key search and analytics features inoperable, the website largely un-editable by staff, and its security compromised".
The notice said updating the website could not be deferred any longer.
However, NHS Highland said that sensitive information such as patient details was not at risk, but services such as online appointments could be disrupted if the site was down, and they are keen to move to a more up-to-date infrastructure.
A London-based national newspaper has reported claims NHS Highland's contract for the work was an "advert to cyber criminals".
A spokeswoman for the health board said the website did not hold or directly link to any sensitive information such as patient details.
She said: "Security concerns are more centred around a potential disruption to service, for example in accessing the NearMe virtual appointment service, which could occur if the site were down.
"We have alternative arrangements we can put in place, should this happen."
She added: "We take security very seriously and for that reason are keen to move to a more up-to-date web infrastructure which can be easily supported."
In 2017, NHS Highland was one of 11 health boards hit by a global ransomware cyber attack, thought to be part of a wider attack affecting organisations in about 100 countries around the world.
