Hackers, who attacked websites of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state power utilities, have demanded six Bitcoins (nearly Rs 20 lakh) as ransom to give description key to restore the sites, police said today.
T Srinivas, Director (Projects and IT) of Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL), assuring no data breach said the website of their organisation is open and that of Northern Power Distribution Company Limited is in the process of restoration.
"They (ransomware attackers) demanded six Bitcoins. Normally the attackers leave a link for paying ransom. In this case the websites were restored to normalcy even before they sent the link. We are continuing our investigation," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes) KCS Raghu Vir said.
The official further said that the link which the malware leaves for ransom cannot be traced and previous history of ransomware attacks proved they originated from Central Europe and some African nations.
Director SPDCL aid the websites and systems are managed by TCS and experts from the IT giant have flown in to restore them. "Our website is open now. There is no harm to the data. Our servers are secured," he said.
A staff of the power distribution company of Telangana yesterday received a mail from an unknown person and when he inadvertently clicked on it, the virus (ransomware) attack took over the entire system.
Along with the Telangana systems, the computer systems of power utilities in Andhra Pradesh also came under the malware attack because they are linked to each other, police said.
When contacted, K Vijayanand, Chairman and Managing Director of Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited, said experts from TCS were working on restoration of the site and there was no impact on the billing activities for Andhra Pradesh utilities.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bus Conductor Misbehaves With Woman Passenger In Telangana, Taken Into Police Custody Bitcoin Price Rise Continues, Most Altcoins Recover After Brief Slump Disney's Internal Data Stolen By Hacking Group In Massive Breach: Report Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms Trainee IAS Summoned By Pune Cops Over Harassment Claims Against Collector Three Indians On Global Student Prize 2024 Top 50 shortlist Prime Accused In INDIA's Bihar Ally's Brutal Murder Arrested 13 Kg Gold, Electronic Items Worth Rs 10.33 Crore Seized At Mumbai Airport Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.