Bitcoin is known as the most preferred currency of the criminals. Their choice of currency doesn’t come as a surprise as bitcoin offers a certain degree of anonymity to its users and transactions are processed in a matter of hours.
Recently there had been a rise in the number of ransomware attacks. The cybercriminals behind these ransomware attacks usually demand ransom in bitcoins from their victims. The ransomware attacks now seems to be spreading to the Indian subcontinent.
Economic Times, a leading Indian business newspaper has reported that three banks and a pharmaceutical company in the country have become target to ransomware attacks. Names of the banks that were targeted by ransomware is not yet known, but the ransomware is determined to be of Le chiffre type. Le chiffre ransomware is known to encrypt files on the computer and connected servers in the background using a 256 bit public key encryption. In order to decrypt the affected files, a private key is needed which the hacker will have in his possession.
According to the reports, the hackers gained access into the network by breaking into the system administrator’s computer and propagating the malware to all connected computers. With many computers affected, the hacker is allegedly asking for one bitcoin per computer to provide the decryption required to unlock the files on those systems. Given the number of infected systems, the ransom will be in tune of millions of dollars.
It is speculated that the pharmaceutical company whose systems were compromised might have paid a partial ransom amount to get few of the computers, especially those belonging to their top executives running. This is the first time Indian companies are being targeted by hackers. Such kind of attacks are expected to increase in terms of both volume and intensity as the country moves towards progress
Indian Banks and Companies Under Ransomware Attacks
