Hackers Said They Want Rs. 200 Crore in Cryptocurrency From AIIMS-Delhi
Hackers are said to be demanding around Rs 200 crore in cryptocurrency from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi as its server remained down for the sixth consecutive day, official sources said on Monday.
It is feared that the data of an estimated 3-4 crore patients could have been compromised due to the breach discovered on Wednesday morning.
The intensive care services, outpatient, inpatient and laboratory wings are being handled manually as the server remains down, sources said.
The Delhi Police, however, issued a statement, saying “no demand for ransom as quoted by certain sections of the media has been brought to the notice of the AIIMS authorities.” The India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Delhi Police and Home Ministry representatives are investigating the ransomware attack.
A case of extortion and cyber terrorism was registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) wing of the Delhi Police on November 25.
Official sources said internet services have been shut down on hospital computers on the recommendations of investigating agencies.
The AIIMS server stored the data of several VIPs, including former prime ministers, ministers, officials and judges.
“The hackers are said to be demanding around Rs 200 crore in cryptocurrency,” one of the sources told PTI.
Meanwhile, the NIC e-hospital database and e-hospital application servers have been restored. The NIC team is inspecting and disinfecting some hospital servers located at AIIMS which are required to deliver hospital services, an official source said.
Four physical servers programmed to restore e-hospital services were scanned and prepared for data and application storage.
Also, sanitation of AIIMS network is in progress. Antivirus solutions are designed for servers and computers. It is installed on approximately 1,200 of the 5,000 computers. Twenty out of 50 servers have been scanned and this operation is going on 24×7, the source said.
“The complete sanitation of the network is likely to continue for another five days. After that, the services of the e-hospital can be distributed in stages. The patient care services including emergency, outpatient, inpatient, laboratory etc. continue in manual mode. said the source.
AIIMS-Delhi in a statement said, “Data recovery and server cleanup is ongoing and taking time due to data volume and large number of hospital service servers. Steps are being taken to ensure cybersecurity.” All hospital facilities, including outpatients, inpatients and laboratories, continue to operate in manual mode, it added.
