Shashi Tharoor demands investigation into the cyber attack on AIIMS Delhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said a thorough investigation should be done on the cyber attack on the servers of AIIMS-Delhi. He urged the government to make sure that citizens' sensitive personal data is protected.

He said the matter is of urgent public importance. "The origin, intent, and extent of the attack remain unclear and I trust that the government recognising this as a matter of public importance will take the House into confidence about this and the measures taken to prevent a recurrence," said the Thiruvananthapuram MP.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi allegedly faced a cyber attack last month which paralysed its servers. The data loss caused by the attack interfered with normal operations like patient registration, consultation booking, and the availability of records.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police registered a case of extortion and cyber terrorism.

He asserted that the possibility of it being a hostile cross-border attack is a grave concern that calls for a thorough investigation and a tough response. "It also reflects the weak data protection safeguards in our country, especially by government institutions. The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 had created a special category of sensitive personal data including health data that required stringent safeguards but this has unfortunately been done away with in the new draft bill released by the government," said Tharoor.

"I urge the minister (of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw) to take necessary measures to ensure that sensitive personal data of our citizens are adequately protected and to avoid such data breaches in the future," he added.