Red alert on malware keeps India on its toes

HARD TO BEAT Virus may strike today, security experts warn attackers can modify cyber bug, making it tougher to shut down

NEW DELHI/ SINGAPORE/ TORONTO: The country’s cyber security agency Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) has issued a red-coloured ‘critical alert’ in connection with the WannaCry attack, and warned users to not pay the ransom. The ransomware worm that stopped car factories, hospitals, shops and schools over the weekend worldwide, with Asia having escaped the worst so far, could wreak fresh havoc on Monday when employees log back on, cyber security experts warned.

“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,” CERT-In said.

The spread of the virus WannaCry, which locked up more than 1,00,000 computers, had slowed on Sunday, but new versions of the worm were expected even while the world was yet to take stock of the extent of damage from Friday’s attack.

Marin Ivezic, cyber security partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said some clients had been “working around the clock since the story broke” to restore systems and install software updates. Microsoft released patches last month and on Friday to fix a vulnerability that allowed the worm to spread across networks.

Code for exploiting that bug, known as “Eternal Blue”, was released on the internet in March by a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers.

The group claimed it was stolen from a repository of National Security Agency hacking tools.

The US cyber security researcher said on Sunday that it wouldn’t be difficult for those responsible to re-release it.