National security concerns raised by AIIMS cyber attack

After 5 out of 100 physical and virtual servers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi were compromised by attacks that some officials believe originated in China, experts from CERT-IN, NIC, and the National Security Council Secretariat, under the direction of National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen (Retd) Rajesh Pant, have been testing the system's resistance to future attacks for the past two days.

The compromised servers have been isolated, and the system is being examined for resilience, according to individuals possessing knowledge of the AIIMS incident. To guard against future cyber warfare, the respondents also suggested that the VVIP hospital establish a full-fledged cyber-security branch. According to information obtained, Delhi AIIMS has been advised to replace the hospital's current flat computer architecture, which serves the medical needs of the nation's highest officials, including the President and Prime Minister, with a hierarchical computer architecture with built-in redundancies.

The event has revealed the susceptibility of the crucial and core sector to hackers, and government cyber experts are currently investigating ways to protect AIIMS servers efficiently. Most experts remain mum on the subject because it pertains to national security, but they do acknowledge that the AIIMS event has shown how vulnerable the government sector is to cyberattack and hybrid warfare because each ministry has its own site.

In 2019, when the Indian Air Force launched the Balakot attack on February 26 in retaliation for the February 14 Pulwama terror strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group, SingCERT, the cyber security agency of Singapore, reportedly informed India through institutionalized channels that China was testing the resilience of the Indian system as part of hybrid warfare. It is believed that at that crucial time, the Singaporean government detected many attacks on the military and government servers of India.

Given that coordinated physical and cyberattacks, or hybrid warfare, is the future of conflict, major nations including the US, China, Russia, and France have constructed strong firewalls to defend their government computers against intrusions by hostile nations. These nations permit the operation of government servers via a single, heavily protected and fire-walled portal as opposed to several portals that essentially permit various entrances into interconnected government systems. According to those acquainted with the situation, the Indian servers are not only open to attacks from China but also from Pakistan, China's bitter competitor, who frequently employs third parties in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.