West Bengal power distributor's computers hacked

Kolkata: At least eight computers of the state-run electricity distributor were affected in a cyber attack Midnapore district of West Bengal, an official said on Monday.

Experts are ascertaining whether it is the same malware virus that is behind the world's biggest Ransomware attack. Computers in cash collection centres in at least two locations in the district have been reportedly hacked.

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According to employees at the collection centres, the affected computers display messages demanding $300 in virtual currency to unlock files.

Chairman and Managing Director of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, Rajesh Pandey said"Out of 4,000 to 5,000 computers which are in our network, we have so far received information about eight-ten such computers. Pandey said it is a "localised issue" and the affected computers have been "sanitised".

"They have been affected so we are trying to find out whether these are (related to) the same issue (ransomware) but they are local computers and it is not impacting any distribution service or electrical service or any consumer database or anything. Our people are assessing it. Instructions have been issued to them," Pandey added.

The vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows software, exploited by "WannaCrypt", crippled computers from hospitals in Britain to police stations in India on Saturday, with hackers demanding hundreds of dollars from the users for them to regain control over their data.

-IANS