After AIIMS, Chinese hackers ATTACK ICMR website over 6000 times in a day

ICMR Website Hacked: The Chinese hackers’ bid to breach the website of the apex health research body failed, the sources said. The ICMR website couldn’t be hacked due to the updated firewall and enhanced security measures by the top medical body, they added.

New Delhi: Days after targeting the Delhi AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital websites, a group of hackers allegedly tried to hack the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). According to reports, the ICMR website was attacked around 6000 times in a day. The sources citing government officials said that hackers apparently from Hong Kong tried to attack the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research around 6000 times in a span of 24 hours on November 30.

However, the Chinese hackers’ bid to breach the website of the apex health research body failed, the sources said. The ICMR website couldn’t be hacked due to the updated firewall and enhanced security measures by the top medical body, they added.

"The contents of the ICMR website are safe. The site is hosted at NIC Data Centre, hence the firewall is from NIC which they regularly update. The attack has been prevented successfully," the official said.

The ICMR website is safe. The site is hosted at NIC Data Centre, the firewall is from NIC and & is regularly updated. NIC was informed through email regarding a cyber attack & has reported that the attack was prevented. ICMR has found the website in the order: Official Sources pic.twitter.com/gp0A3w03e1

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2022

The attacks come close to the heels of the alleged ransomware attack that had paralysed AIIMS online services here. The IP address, a unique address that identifies a device on the internet, was traced to a blacklisted IP based in Hong Kong. 

Delhi’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences was subject to a ransomware attack last month, affecting all almost sections of the hospital. The AIIMS Delhi servers were down for over 10 days, suggesting the severity of the attack which affected many services in the hospital.

On December 4, the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, which is opposite AIIMS, faced a cyber attack as well, but the damage was not as severe compared with the attack on AIIMS. Medical Superintendent Safdarjung Hospital Dr BL Sherwal said, “There was a cyberattack. Our server was also down in November for a single day, but data was secured. It was handled by IT, National informatics Centre (NIC) which revived the systems.”

Sherwal further said that the cyber attack wasn’t ransomware. Another official from the hospital said that IP was blocked.

(With Agency Inputs)