How AIIMS thwarted the second cyber attack on June 6

According to an official source at AIIMS, major structural changes have been introduced for the cyber security of the servers which prevented the attack.

The official said that the firewall’s rules were a major change that prevented the server hack, post the cyber attack incident in November.

“If there is any suspicious activity, the firewall triggers and blocks the network to stop any further virus spread,” he added.

The official said that it was a normal firewall activity which also led to the server being down for four hours. Due to a weakened server, the doctors were unable to take out reports of patients for almost four hours on Tuesday afternoon.

The official said that the server being down was the result of the precautionary measure.

“The server being down is a result of the firewall trigger. We have to identify what is happening. Every security appliance has this nature to stop functioning once a virus is detected by a firewall,” the official added.

The official said that more security steps will be taken in the next six months.

The malware attack was detected by the cyber security team of AIIMS which was later thwarted and neutralised by the team, AIIMS officials said in a statement.

“A malware attack was detected at 14.50 hrs by the cyber-security systems in AIIMS. The attempt was successfully thwarted, and the threat was neutralised by the deployed cyber-security systems. The e-hospital services remain to be fully secure and are functioning normally,” the official added.

The cyber attack in November-December on the institute server lasted for more than 15 days, disabling online services at the premier hospital. At least five servers were hit by the cyber attack.

Post the attack, the AIIMS had decided to strengthen its e-hospital network and said that it will only be allowed on a dedicated and secure AIIMS LAN/intranet network that will be maintained by its computer facility department.

AIIMS director Dr M Srinivas had stated that for open internet services requisitioned by user departments, the engineering services department will facilitate power point requirements and coordinate with MTNL service providers for laying internet cable/wire, and also maintain the database.

“Open internet services are critical requirements for research, academic, and administrative purposes. These services shall be procured from MTNL on reasonable rent and maintained by respective user departments within their respective research funds or approved GIA-General funds, as applicable,” Director Dr M Srinivas had said.