The increasing exploitation of the crypto industry by fraudsters and scammers has been concerning regulators across the globe. In today’s increasingly connected digital world, all organizations and individuals are at risk from cyber-related threats. Cybercriminals are leveraging vehicles such as crypto/blockchain and other emerging technologies to find sophisticated ways of committing online crypto frauds, money laundering, terrorist funding, and ransomware attacks.
In a recent revelation, it has been found that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) server, Delhi, has been hacked, and a ransom has been demanded. AIIMS is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The organization has been demanded to pay a ransom of 200 crores INR ($24.5 million) in cryptocurrency. Their server, which has been down for six days straight, has added fear of data security for 3-4 crores patients whose confidential data would be stored there. The database also included big-shot personalities like former prime ministers, politicians, bureaucrats, judges, etc.
As per sources, the attack on the server has forced the organization’s officials to retort to other hefty data storage methods. The patient care services in the emergency, outpatient, inpatient, and laboratory wings have been managing data manually.
The Delhi Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) are investigating the matter. At the same time, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) division of the Delhi police has filed a case of extortion and cyberterrorism.
Reportedly, the investigating agencies have disabled internet access on the hospital computers. In the meantime, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) e-hospital database and application servers have been back online after being thoroughly scanned. Other e-hospital servers at AIIMS that are essential for the provision of the hospital are still being scanned and cleaned by the team.
The AIIMS network has also been scanned, and antivirus solutions for servers and computers have been planned.
As per a CNBC report, in the past year, Indian users have visited crypto scamming websites over 9.6 million times. Given the wide unawareness, there is a substantial fear of exploitation of investors followed by the lack of regulation. However, India seeks to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cryptocurrency during its G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
There is a significant increase in crime associated with crypto around the globe. The United Kingdom has also witnessed a 32% spike in crypto frauds this year, taking the estimated value to 226 million pounds ($273 million), as reported by Todayq News.