Kolkata: The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) reportedly was attacked by global ransomware, ‘WannaCry, which encrypts the files on the target system and makes them inaccessible to users until a ransom is paid.
“One of our employees in West Midnapore tried to access data when a window popped up saying that it can only be accessed after a ransom of $300 was paid,” a WBSEDCL official said, adding that pop-up said that the ransom could be made through Bitcoin gateway.
“The pop-up said the payment can be made through the Bitcoin gateway with an account number. Initially we thought it could be some server issue. But after going through the warning, we were sure it’s WannaCry,” said the official, on account of anonymity.
State power minister Sovandeb Chatterjee immediately asked the managing director of WBSEDCL Rajesh Pandey to engage cyber experts to tackle the issue. “It looks like WannaCry. We are looking into it and all precautionary measures will be taken,” he told News18.
The WBSEDCL serves around 8.5 lakhs households and efforts are on for an alternative arrangement for billing process.
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