AIIMS ransomware attack: eHospital data restored on servers, online services may resume soon

Services at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi remained affected on the seventh consecutive day

New Delhi, Nov 29: Days after AIIMS Delhi servers were hit by a ransomware attack, the eHospital data was restored on servers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, all hospital services are still running on manual.

"The eHospital data has been restored on servers. Network being sanitised before services can be restored. The process is taking some time due to the volume of data and large number of servers/computers for the hospital services. Measures are being taken for cyber security," a statement released by the premier medical establishment said.

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

Services at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi remained affected on the seventh consecutive day.

It is feared that data of around 3-4 crore patients could have been compromised due to the breach detected on November 23.

Patient care services in emergency, outpatient, inpatient and laboratory wings are being managed manually as the server remained down, the sources said.

The Delhi Police, however, issued a statement, saying "no ransom demand as being quoted by certain sections of the media has been brought to notice by AIIMS authorities".

The India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Delhi Police and representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs are investigating the ransomware attack.

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 AIIMS server has stored data of several VIPs, including former prime ministers, ministers, bureaucrats and judges.

A case had been registered by the Delhi police against unknown persons.

The unavailablity of online appointment facility led to a huge rush in patients visiting the hospital physically for appointments. AIIMS had to deploy extra personnel to manage the operations manually.