Unknown elements tampered with AIIMS servers due to improper network segmentation: Minister in LS

A view of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), in New Delhi
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the cyber attack at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi took place as “unknown threat elements” tampered with the IT (Information Technology) servers at the hospital due to “improper network segmentation”.

During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, the Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked about the investigation regarding the AIIMS cyber attack, and if the attackers had been linked to China and Hong Kong. Responding to this, Minister of State for Home, Ajay Mishra Teni said, “IT systems in AIIMS are managed in-house. On November 23, after AIIMS informed the government about the attack, it was found during preliminary probe that due to improper network segmentation unknown threat elements had tampered with the IT servers, which has now been rectified. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and other agencies have suggested measures to protect the system. The Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered an FIR (First Information Report) and investigation is underway.”

On November 23, the AIIMS said in a statement that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) had informed that the hospital’s servers were down and it may be due to a ransomware attack. Following the incident, the Delhi Police registered an FIR under Section 385 of the Indian Penal Code (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and Section 66/66F of the Information Technology Act pertaining to cyber terrorism and computer-related offences against unknown persons.

The Minister said in a written reply that more than six lakh complaints of cyber crime have been registered at the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System since its inception in 2019.

Mr. Mishra said the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning of funds by fraudsters. The toll-free helpline number 1930 has been operationalised for assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.

“Since the inception of Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, more than six lakh complaints have been registered till December 12, 2022, and in more than 1.11 lakh complaints, so far, financial amount of more than ₹188 crore have been saved,” he said in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour.

He said cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 30 States and Union Territories.

These are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Punjab, Tripura, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi, and Jharkhand.