Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala reported another attack by the ransomware WannaCry, this time on the Personnel and Accounts Department of the Railway Divisional Office in Palakkad.
This incident after four computers in a panchayat office in Thariyode of Wayanad district were hit by the ransomware on Monday.
About 22 computers have been reported to have been affected by the ransomware by the afternoon.
These computers are used for the internal and clerical work not associated with the booking and info related to general public. Officials say that they have a backup of the data.
In Thariyode, authorities in the panchayat office claim they saw a message on their computer screen which stated that their files had been encrypted and that they would have to pay up to recover them.
The message warned that if the payment wasn’t done within three days, then the price would be doubled. The message stated that seven days was the total time given for the payment, supposed to be done through bitcoins, failing which, the files would be deleted.
Nodal officer of Kerala Police Cyberdome, IG Manoj Abraham said, “Looking at the message we think it is a ransomware attack. We have sent our team to confirm the same. The four computers were networked, so they are already affected."
Earlier, India’s cyber security agency has alerted Internet users against damaging activities of a strong and globally active ransomware virus- 'WannaCry'- that critically infects work stations and locks them remotely.
Comments
0 comment