5 months ago
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AHMEDABAD: A azygous default password - "admin123" - was each it took to unlock a nationalist nightmare. What began astatine Payal Maternity Hospital successful Rajkot arsenic a lawsuit of careless integer housekeeping spiralled into 1 of India's astir disturbing cyber scandals.
Hackers breached the hospital's CCTV strategy done its default admin login, stole hours of intimate footage of women being examined successful the gynaecology ward, and fed it into an planetary porn fetish web for profit. The entree logs spanned astir a year, from Jan 2024 done aboriginal Dec 2024, until the perpetrators were arrested this Feb. The hackers were capable to bargain astatine slightest 50,000 clips implicit 9 months from crossed the country.
Investigators: 80 CCTV dashboards compromised The scam came to airy aft teaser clips from the Rajkot installation were posted online connected YouTube channels similar "Megha Mbbs" and "cp monda". Customers were led to Telegram groups to bargain the footage, for thing betwixt Rs 700 and Rs 4,000. Investigators recovered astir "80 CCTV dashboards compromised nationwide, including successful Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Surat, Ahmedabad, and Delhi". The victims ranged crossed 20 states, spanning hospitals, schools, firm houses, cinema halls, factories, and adjacent backstage residences.
Despite the superior arrests being made earlier successful 2025, investigators recovered that these illegally obtained clips were inactive disposable connected Telegram groups until astatine slightest June.Investigators recovered that galore of these CCTV systems inactive utilized factory-set passwords similar "admin123". An Ahmedabad cybercrime subdivision serviceman told TOI: "The superior method utilized was a 'brute unit attack' (hackers utilizing a programme oregon bot to effort each imaginable operation of letters and numbers for a lock)." Parit Dhameliya, the pb hacker successful the operation, a BCom graduate, employed 3 antithetic bundle programs to execute this. With stolen credentials, different accused, Rohit Sisodiya - who was aboriginal arrested successful Delhi and utilized a diploma successful aesculapian laboratory exertion arsenic a screen - utilized a instrumentality meant for morganatic distant viewing to input stolen login details and summation unauthorised entree to the hospital's cameras.
