NIMHANS files complaint over a month after ransomware attack: Report

The administration of Bengaluru's National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) filed a police complaint against a ransomware attack it suffered from on March 23 only a month later on April 30.

A report by The Indian Express quoting police sources said the country's top mental health institute was unable to access several files and systems as "the data had been encrypted by an external force." The hacker said in a note they would only decrypt the information if NIMHANS send $5,000 in the form of Bitcoin.

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Nimhans director Dr Pratima Murthy had filed the complaint.

The report added that while there's no clarity on the extent of the damage caused, the data accessed by the hacker includes lab reports and patient information that ranges from their personal details to history of illnesses.

According to an employees' body, the IT department in Nimhans has no expert and "does nothing." "There is no cyber safety audit done and all the cyber experts are outsourced,” a NIMHANS staffer told the publication.