Data theft in Ayushman Bharat raises many question on security

Ayushman Bharat, health insurance programme runned by the Government of India confirmes on the recent attempted on the security breach. “There have been attempts to get illegal access to large medical data including sensitive personal information,’’ said Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Alerted about the intrusion 48 hours ago, the National Health Authority — which administers the programme — has now written to all State Governments alerting them about the threat and warning that no sensitive data be shared. Dr. Bhushan said contact had been made with Ayushman Bharat employees urging them to leak sensitive information on the available health profiles of those covered by the scheme.

Sources said, there are more than 3 crore e-cards issued countrywide to individuals covered under the scheme and over 21 lakh hospital admissions, worth ₹2,820 crore, having been approved, the scheme is said to be the one of the world’s largest state-run health insurance programmes, according to the government. Health data is extremely sensitive and of great value to commercial and pharmaceutical companies.The question is, we are in many ways getting into first into various projects, but the question raises on the security factor,probably rest of the countries have not started this type of schemes and offers, probably feared of the security breach when there is offer to the public .

“We have this data enveloped in multiple layers of security which is tough to penetrate,” explained Dr. Bhushan. “We also have a stringent access system for those within Ayushman Bharat and we were alerted, almost immediately, when the breach was attempted,’’Dr. Bhushan said. The authority is now also seeking assistance from the public to help ensure that the programme stays cybersecure and that patient data and records are not compromised in any manner.

“We are making a public appeal to please report such cases to @AyushmanNHA at the earliest for proper investigation and actions to mitigate any potential risk,’’ Dr. Bhushan said.Ayushman Bharat has also had to combat multiple attempts to defraud individuals and companies “using our programmes as a disguise,” said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “People have been offered jobs and some have even been duped saying that we charge for registration. All of this is illegal,’’ the official says.\

The official also confirms, an FIR had been registered in Delhi, after some persons came to the city headquarters to deposit ₹10,000 as training fee for a job that was being offered on the programme’s behalf. “All the documents given to them were fake. Three weeks ago we busted a centre that was being run on the outskirts of the capital where people were being charged to get their names registered for accessing healthcare under our programme,’’ he added.