Ransomware Assault Hits a Kerala Bank
A branch of Mercantile Bank in Kerala was reportedly hit with a WannaCry ransomware assault on December 26. According to police, the attack targeted the PC-network connected with the bank's primary server leaving the entire network non-operational. After sometime, one message came across the PC-screen making a demand for Bitcoins as payment for retrieving the data.
The missive coming from the hackers stated that the money demanded required being submitted in Bitcoin in case data files were to get restored. Soon as the assault aimed at the PC linked with the server at the bank occurred it resulted in the PC to stop working while ransom missive got exhibited on-screen. English.mathrubhumi.com posted this, December 26, 2017.
Security engineering director Venugopal N for SAARC and India said that one ransomware named Cerber got presented like a service in 2016 from 170 people while it contaminated around 150,000 victims from two hundred nations, including India. That number had surely increased during 2017, Venugopal added.
In a ransomware attack, the targeted PC is locked so the victim can't gain entry into his data-files which the virus encrypts till the time the victim pays up a particular ransom amount in Bitcoins. Nevertheless, upon payment, the attacker dispatches one decrypting code that the victim may use for unlocking his PC. On the other side, the attacker and virus creator shares the ransom amount.
As per preliminary enquiries, some foreign country is origin of the attack. After the bank officials filed a complaint with the police its cyber department started an investigation. Previously, PC-networks belonging to establishments within Kerala got targeted with WannaCry attacks observed across the world's many regions. At the time, attacks targeted computers at Kollam, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur Gram Panchayats.
According to police, some impacted files could be regained using backups. As the victim presses the "Wanna Decryptor Program" button, he's told about his files that are encrypted. Therefore, he must pay one specific sum for retrieving the same else his files will get erased. A sample message states the user's data folders are encrypted, so for getting the key for decrypting them he must pay USD500. » SPAMfighter News - 1/1/2018 |
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