Over a month after cyberattack, Nimhans files police complaint

On March 23, according to the police, several computer files and systems could not be accessed as it was showing that the data had been encrypted by an external force.

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More than a month after the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) faced a ransomware attack, the administration last week on April 30 filed a complaint with the Bengaluru City Police.

The complaint was filed by Nimhans director Dr Pratima Murthy. On March 23, according to the police, several computer files and systems could not be accessed as it was showing that the data had been encrypted by an external force. A weblink sent to Nimhans read that all the data has been encrypted and in order to decrypt it, the hacker sought Rs 5,000 US dollar in the form of bitcoins.

Nimhans is one of the premiere mental health institutes of the country. According to sources, there is no clarity on the extent of damage caused but there are several laboratory reports of patients, their data, including their names and history of illnesses and others that were encrypted.

Soon after the cyberattack, the Nimhans employees’ association demanded experts in the organisation’s IT department. A member of the association said, “There is an IT department just for the sake of it which does nothing. There is no cyber safety audit done and all the cyber experts are outsourced.”

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