AIIMS Delhi Server Attack Originated From China, Data Successfully Retrieved: Report

The cyber attack impeded normal operations at AIIMS, including patient registration, consultation booking and availability of medical records.

AIIMS Delhi first reported a failure in its servers on November 23.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday said that the ransomware attack on the servers of the AIl India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi originated in China, ANI reported. As per the ministry, out of 100 servers of the hospital, of which 40 were physical and 60 virtual, five physical servers were infiltrated by hackers but data from them has been successfully retrieved.

"AIIMS Delhi server attack was by the Chinese, FIR details that the attack had originated from China. Of 100 servers (40 physical and 60 virtual), five physical servers were successfully infiltrated by the hackers. The damage would have been far worse but is now contained. Data in the five servers have been successfully retrieved now," ANI said quoting a source from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Last month, AIIMS Delhi faced a cyber attack, compromising 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. Two of the analysts assigned to monitor the security of the servers have also been suspended for the alleged violation of cyber security.

AIIMS authorities in a statement issued stated that the e-Hospital data has been restored. "The eHospital data has been restored on the servers. The network is being sanitized before the services can be restored. The process is taking some time due to the volume of data and the large number of servers/computers for the hospital services. Measures are being taken for cyber security," they said.

"All hospital services, including outpatient, in-patient, laboratories, etc continue to run on manual mode," the statement added.

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

Along with the NIA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Delhi Cyber ​​Crime Cell, Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are also probing the cyber attack. 

(With inputs from ANI)