INDIANS TOLD NOT TO PAY RANSOM

India’s cyber security agency Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) has asked users in India not to pay ransom if hit by ransomware ‘WannaCry’ which has impacted 2 lakh victims in over 150 countries.

“Individuals or organisations are not encouraged to pay the ransom, as this does not guarantee files will be released. Report such instances of fraud to CERT-In and law enforcement agencies,” said CERT-In in a red-coloured ‘critical alert’.

It has advised users and organisations to apply patches to their Microsoft operating system Windows to prevent getting infected by ransomware attack. It warned that Wannacry is spreading widely. “Wannacry encrypts the files on infected Windows systems.”

The ransomware — also called WannaCrypt — encrypts the computer’s hard disk drive and then spreads laterally between computers on the same LAN, it said. The ransomware also spreads through malicious attachments to emails.

Cert-In has advised users to maintain updated antivirus software on all systems and check regularly for the integrity of the information stored in the databases.

It advised users to keep the operating system third party applications (MS office, browsers, browser Plugins) up-to-date with the latest patches. It asked users not to open attachments in unsolicited e-mails, even if they come from people in your contact list.

Perform regular backups of all critical information to limit the impact of data or system loss

— CERT-In alert