Amid the growing costs of fuel in India, all because of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, a sophisticated ransomware attack has hit the Indian subcontinent that could throw the entire nation into big trouble of fuel shortage.
Oil India Limited (OIL), an Assam based fuel producing and supplying company, has made it official that’s IT infrastructure was hit by a sophisticated cyber attack of ransomware genre. And the hackers are demanding $75, 00,000 or Rs 57 crore to free up the database from malware.
A ransomware is a kind of file encrypting malware that locks down access to digital files until a ransom ranging in millions is paid.
Currently, there is no official confirmation of who’s behind the attack. However, highly placed sources state that either Conti or RYUK ransomware gangs could be behind the incident, with a 30% suspicion arrow pointing at Lapsus$ group.
Reports are in that they said PSU Major Company has incurred huge losses as all of its IT systems at its headquarters in Duliajan, Dibrugarh District of Assam, was infected.
Unconfirmed sources revealed that the company is not in a mood to entertain the demands of hackers as it has an efficient disaster recovery plan.
CID’s Cyber cell in coordination with the Assam Police Department is after the cyber criminals behind the attack. And preliminary inquiries reveal the hack was launched from a foreign soil, and perpetrators will be prosecuted as per the existing Cyber Criminal laws in India.
Oil India was formed in 1989 and most of its administrative control likes with the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The company is the second largest fuel and natural gas supplier and the attack might show an impact on the supply chain in coming weeks and so has triggered price rise concerns among the public.
