aiims delhi cyber attack: Cyber attack on AIIMS Delhi’s servers originated in China, say government sources

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday said the cyber attack on servers of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi was originated in China and the information has now been retrieved.

As per the ministry, five physical servers were infiltrated by the hackers from China.

“The server attack was by the Chinese; the probe found that it originated from China,” said a top source. “Of the 100 servers — 40 physical and 60 virtual — five physical servers were infiltrated by the hackers. The damage could have been far worse but is now contained. Data in the five servers has been successfully retrieved,” ANI quoted MoHFW as saying.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had been investigating the ransomware attack on the servers of AIIMS Delhi.

“I can’t comment on that as it is a subject matter of an investigation by the NIA…It is pretty clear that it is a deliberate and targeted effort…a ransomware attack on AIIMS‘ system… and NIA is investigating it,” Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said on the sidelines of the CII Global Economic Policy Summit 2022.

Chandrasekhar, last week, had said the ransomware attack on the servers of AIIMS Delhi was a conspiracy.

“It is clearly a conspiracy and it has been planned by forces that are pretty significant. It is a sophisticated ransomware attack. We will wait for the outcome of CERTin and NIA (investigations) before we come to conclusion on who is behind the ransomware attack,” Chandrasekhar had said on December 2.

In a ransomware attack, cybercriminals lock access to data or a device and promise to unlock it after they are paid the desired ransom.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi allegedly faced a cyber attack on November 23, paralysing its servers. A case of extortion and cyber terrorism was registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police on November 25.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Delhi cybercrime special cell, Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Forensic Sciences University, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and NIA, among others, are investigating the cyber attack.

(With inputs from agencies)