AIIMS website restoration continues, lab services are back online

Dec 13, 2022 11:51 PM IST

AIIMS, widely regarded as India’s foremost government hospital, was hit by a ransomware attack on November 23, when staff was first unable to access the mainstay hospital management tool, eHospital

Nearly three weeks after a cyberattack crippled services at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, the hospital has announced that it has managed to restore its SMART lab services.

An elderly patient lies on a sidewalk outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi. The leading medical institute in India's capital limped back to normality after a cyberattack crippled its operations for nearly two weeks. (AP)
An elderly patient lies on a sidewalk outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi. The leading medical institute in India's capital limped back to normality after a cyberattack crippled its operations for nearly two weeks. (AP)

AIIMS, widely regarded as India’s foremost government hospital, was hit by a ransomware attack on November 23, when staff was first unable to access the mainstay hospital management tool, eHospital. Subsequently, the hospital shifted its processes offline, and gradually started restoring its online services in a phased manner from starting December 6.

In a circular issued late on Monday, the hospital administration said samples deposited before November 22 -- a day before the cyberattack -- and after December 12 will be available on the eHospital portal. However, patients and/or their families will have to collect manual reports for tests conducted between November 23 and December 10.

“Manual reports from SMART lab will be available for tests dated November 23-December 2, and manual reports will be available from the respective OPDs (outpatient departments) between December 3 and December 10,” the circular said.

The first department to revive online operations on December 6 was the new OPD at the Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur Block. After that, online OPD appointments were restored and now the lab services have also been revived.

On November 23, the systems at AIIMS and its centres were corrupted by a ransomware attack, which wiped outpatient and research data from its primary and backup servers.

The Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) cell has filed an FIR invoking sections of cyber terrorism (IT Act, section 66F) against unknown persons, while teams from NIC and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) are attempting to restore the network.

On November 29, the hospital administration said in a statement that the eHospital data was restored on their servers but the complete sanitation of network was being done before services can be restored. The process was taking some time due to the volume of data and a large number of servers/computers for the hospital services, the AIIMS administration said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Soumya Pillai covers environment and traffic in Delhi. A journalist for three years, she has grown up in and with Delhi, which is often reflected in the stories she does about life in the city. She also enjoys writing on social innovations.

SHARE
Story Saved
OPEN APP
×
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
My Offers
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Monday, March 27, 2023
Start 15 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Register Free and get Exciting Deals