10 signatures reached
To: NHS England and NHS Digital
Migrate NHS to Linux
Migrate the operating systems of every NHS computer from Windows to Linux.
Why is this important?
The NHS has just fallen victim of an international cyber-attack but what no one is talking about is how this was the consequence of a blatant error: placing our health system in the hands of a self-oriented international corporation.
All the tax payers money used to acquire thousands of Windows XP licenses were simply wasted the moment Microsoft decided to discontinue this version of their operating system. The abandonment of support via security updates by Microsoft since April 2014 is at the core of the NHS' exposure to international hackers.
Now the NHS, as well as other public services providers, are rushing to update their operating systems. But we cannot let them make the same mistake again. Moreover, newer versions of Windows also require faster machines, dragging the NHS into a huge expenditure which it can clearly not afford.
It is time to move to a more reliable and cheaper alternative that is perfectly suitable for the computers the NHS currently has. Linux operating system is more than appropriate for the kind of tasks required, which are mainly office and data-keeping related.
There are several UK based firms offering installation and maintenance of Linux operating systems in large scale. Such that as an extra bonus of this migration, our own internal market will be boosted, creating jobs and generating domestic income.
More info:
NHS left reeling by cyber-attack: ‘We are literally unable to do any x-rays’
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/13/nhs-cyber-attack-patients-ransomware
NHS should have installed crucial computer update ‘months ago’
http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/13/nhs-should-have-installed-crucial-computer-update-months-ago-6634494/
Leaked NSA Malware Is Helping Hijack Computers Around the World
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/
90 per cent of NHS Trusts are still running Windows XP machines
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2479315/90-per-cent-of-nhs-trusts-are-still-running-windows-xp-machines
Credit for the image: Thinkstock/Linux
All the tax payers money used to acquire thousands of Windows XP licenses were simply wasted the moment Microsoft decided to discontinue this version of their operating system. The abandonment of support via security updates by Microsoft since April 2014 is at the core of the NHS' exposure to international hackers.
Now the NHS, as well as other public services providers, are rushing to update their operating systems. But we cannot let them make the same mistake again. Moreover, newer versions of Windows also require faster machines, dragging the NHS into a huge expenditure which it can clearly not afford.
It is time to move to a more reliable and cheaper alternative that is perfectly suitable for the computers the NHS currently has. Linux operating system is more than appropriate for the kind of tasks required, which are mainly office and data-keeping related.
There are several UK based firms offering installation and maintenance of Linux operating systems in large scale. Such that as an extra bonus of this migration, our own internal market will be boosted, creating jobs and generating domestic income.
More info:
NHS left reeling by cyber-attack: ‘We are literally unable to do any x-rays’
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/13/nhs-cyber-attack-patients-ransomware
NHS should have installed crucial computer update ‘months ago’
http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/13/nhs-should-have-installed-crucial-computer-update-months-ago-6634494/
Leaked NSA Malware Is Helping Hijack Computers Around the World
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/12/the-nsas-lost-digital-weapon-is-helping-hijack-computers-around-the-world/
90 per cent of NHS Trusts are still running Windows XP machines
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2479315/90-per-cent-of-nhs-trusts-are-still-running-windows-xp-machines
Credit for the image: Thinkstock/Linux
