The NHS ransomware attack was the result of staggering ignorance and complacency. The government needs to start taking IT seriously
There’s a wonderful Amy Schumer sketch in which the comedian takes her mother and her laptop along to a therapist to try to address the anger that Schumer feels when confronted with her mum’s computer incompetence. “Let’s attach the photo,” Schumer says, once her mum has managed to switch the machine on. “To the computer?” Schumer closes her eyes, frustrated: “No. To the email.” “Well,” her mum says, disheartened, “I didn’t bring a cord.”
It’s a keenly observed study that those of us who are young, or relatively young, know all too well when it comes to parents and technology. It is less amusing when it isn’t one’s mum who’s not 100% sure what the shift key is for, or that the “internet” and the “web” aren’t interchangeable, but the people with responsibility for the smooth running of our country.
Related: Jeremy Hunt ‘ignored warning signs’ before cyber-attack hit NHS
One would hope Hunt has aides more computer savvy than he – but I’m not entirely sure he does
