India has become one of cybercriminals’ favorite targets. Recently, there was an attack on MGM New Bombay Hospital in Vashi. The hospital management announced July 15, 2018 as the date of the attack.
Details of the Attack
According to the ransomware removal experts, the attack was discovered as the ransomware sent a message to the system of the hospital’s receptionist after infiltration. The message stated that their systems had been compromised. The system administrator was then notified about the intrusion of the attack.
The attacker demanded money in the form of Bitcoin for returning access to the files. Ransomware removal experts realized resemblance to a ransomware attack in the beginning of July. In that attack, Hotel Three Star Khargar’s systems were compromised and a ransom of Bitcoin worth $400 was demanded.
The hospital’s management system coordinator Ramnath Parmeshwaram contacted cybercrime cell and filed a FIR on Monday in the Vashi police station. The FIR comes under the Indian IT Act’s sections of 43 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer system) and 66 (computer-related offences done dishonestly or fraudulently).
Mr. Shashankar, administrator of the hospital stated that the message provided by the ransomware included a hyperlink that consisted of the exact amount of the ransom. However, due to the advice given by ransomware removal experts, the hospital did not open the link. Instead, they put all their efforts to decode and remove the ransomware.
In order to counter and deal with the cyber threat, the hospital shut down all its systems with the intent of limiting the ransomware’s proliferation. However, unfortunately this strategy was employed too late and by that time all the terminals were ravaged by the ransomware.
Luckily according to ransomware removal experts, there was no impact on the financials of the hospital while they also had resumed daily operations.
