The ransomware attack on the servers of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi is a conspiracy and planned by significant forces, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday, 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 PTI report stated. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Delhi cybercrime special cell, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation, among others are investigating the cyber attack.
The servers of AIIMS, Delhi, have been out of order for the 10th consecutive day due to the ransomware attack, as stated in a report by PTI. "It is a conspiracy and it has been planned by pretty significant forces. It is a sophisticated ransomware attack. We will wait for the outcome of CERT-In and National Investigation Agency (NIA) before we conclude who is behind the ransomware attack," Chandrasekhar said, as per PTI.
Meanwhile, internet services at the AIIMS continued to be blocked as per the recommendations of the investigating agencies. Patient care services including outpatient, laboratory, inpatient and emergency, etc. are operating in manual mode.
"This will not be the first ransomware attempt. It will not be the last. It is for these entities like they say in the context of terrorism, you have to be right all the time and they can be successful only one time, so we have to be on guard. We have to make sure that our systems and processes are safe and secure. Especially in the era of intensifying digitisation of our economy and our businesses and activities," Chandrasekhar said.
Measures are being taken for cyber security, the AIIMS said in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 29. According to cyber security intelligence firm CloudSEK, the number of cyber attacks on the Indian healthcare industry was the second-highest globally, with 7.7 per cent of total incidence on the segment being witnessed in the country in 2021.
