Pro-Islamic hacktivist group, Anonymous Sudan, has targeted several top hospitals and healthcare institutes in Hyderabad and other parts of India, conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
According to cybersecurity firm, Radware, Anonymous Sudan comprises politically motivated hackers from Sudan. These attacks on India’s healthcare infrastructure follow the group’s recent targeting of France’s hospitals, universities, and airports.
Experts note that such attacks involve multiple users accessing the website simultaneously, leading to unprecedented traffic and ultimately, the denial of service to genuine users. The same hacktivist group previously targeted airports in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cochin, and Goa, as well as the Income Tax Department and IRCTC websites.
The healthcare sector has emerged as a critical infrastructure during and post the Covid-19 pandemic, offering life-critical services. Cyber attackers exploit the vulnerabilities of healthcare systems, ranging from malware compromising patient privacy, to DDoS attacks, insider threats, and frauds and scams. Experts suggest the mobilisation and coordination of resources across different stakeholders – public and private – to mitigate risks and minimise the impacts of cyber attacks.
