Cyberattack on OIL Demands Ransom of Rs.57 Crores
A cyberattack on Oil India Limited (OIL) has demanded the PSU major a ransom of $ 75,00,000 (over Rs.57 crore) in bitcoin to restore access to its computers.
The attack disbaled the IT systems at its headquarters at the Duliajan police station and the Cyber Cell of the Assam police is probing the matter.
The attack resulted in the outages of its computers and the systems were disabled as a precautionary method under protocol.
On evaluation, it was observed that the breach had impacted certain servers and computers, but found no worrisome impact on their bank data.
However, the public sector undertaking OIL and the government exchequer were reported to have incurred a huge financial loss due to the cyberattack - ransomware as the business was affected through its IT system, according to OIL Manager Sachin Kumar’s police complaint.
As the attack has not affected the company’s day-to-day production, the computers are said to be restored. The drilling activities are reported to take place without interruption
Although the cyberattack was said to have occurred on April 10 at one of the workstations of the Geological and Reservoir department, yet the IT department had intimated it on the following day.
The company had logged a complaint with the police, with the case registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
After the preliminary investigation, it came to light that OIL's network, server, and clients' PCs are suffering from network outage.
For now, the data of OIL are being saved offline and are expected to be uploaded later, no sooner the IT system starts to run again.
The PSU is seeking aid from an internationally reputed IT security consultant and is focusing on a restoration exercise. As the attack has not affected the company’s day-to-day production, the computers are said to be restored. The drilling activities are reported to take place without interruption.
Formed in 1889, OIL stands as the second largest oil and gas company in India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.