WannaCry fails to paralyse India

May 16 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

`WannaCry' fails to paralyse India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Banks, Firms On High Alert; Business As Usual, ATMs Unaffected
Barring sporadic inci dents in a few states, most institutions and industries across the country continue to remain insulated from the effect of the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack that has affected computers in approximately 100 countries worldwide. Banks, government departments and corporate houses have issued messages of caution and reinforced their online security. However, business was unaffected as markets and offices opened on Monday after a weekend during which ripple effects of the malware spread across the globe.
For now, RBI has asked banks to operationalise their ATM networks only after software updates are installed.

The social network was abuzz with talk that ATMs in many places were not functional. However, bankers said this was likely because the machines had run out of cash. “In any case, since demonetisation, the flow of cash at ATMs is not what it used to be,“ said businessman Ashit Desai in Mumbai.

Corporate houses urged employees to back up their data and refrain from opening unfamiliar file attachments. “We are also urging all Windows users to install software upgrades and firewalls,“ said the I-T head of a media group.

FMCG companies Marico and Godrej Industries issued advisories to employees, asking them to guard against the malware. A Mar ico spokesperson said, “While we have not been impacted, we have proactively issued an advisory to employees and distributors.“

The broking and mutual fund industries remained insulated from any loss from the malware attack, said top officials from the two industries.

“All exchange operations went on normally . There were no reports of any specific case of attack from the brokerage industry . Trading volumes were also normal,“ said Ashishkumar Chau han, MD & CEO, BSE.

Yet, the problem may be more complex--and prolonged--than originally believed. US government officials as well as experts warned on Sunday that the effects of the malicious software could linger because “this code was cobbled together from many places and sources“. There are fears its new variant could affect computers around the globe as days wear on. Reports of new cases surfaced from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan over the weekend.

Among cities in which sporadic attacks were reported are Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Chennai and Kolkata. Dhananjay Dwivedi, secretary in Gujarat government, said there were 120 incidents across Gujarat.“However, there is no harm on government functioning,“ he added.

In Kerala, computers in panchayat offices in Wayanad and Pathanamthitta districts were affected. “The staff who came to office on Monday found Microsoft Word and MS Office files locked and inaccessible,“ said Thariyode panchayat president Reena Sunil. Police have registered a case under Section 43 of IT Act on the basis of complaint from the panchayat secretary .

Meanwhile, the Oragadam factory of alliance partners Renault & Nissan restarted production on Monday after a disruption on Saturday . A Nissan spokesperson said in a statement, “Like many organisations around the world some Nissan entities were targeted by the ransomware attack. Our teams have been responding accordingly and there was no major impact on our business. Normal production operations are underway at our RNAIPL plant in Chennai“ The attack had impacted production across two shifts or nearly 900 cars on Saturday . With production resuming only around noon on Monday , the loss due to production increased to 1,200 vehicles.

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