Oil India Limited (OIL)’s headquarter at Assam’s Dibrugarh district is witnessing one of the biggest cyberattack in recent years. In an FIR filed at Duliajan Sadar police station, OIL spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said that they have been forced to withdraw all their computer system from LAN connection after it came to their knowledge that the systems have been hit by a virus.
Emphasising that the IT department is yet to ascertain the extent of damage, he added that OIL has faced such problems in the past but it seems like a major IT –related crisis this time, which might take some time to resolve.
However, Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Shwetank Mishra revealed that the hackers have asked for ransom of 196 bitcoin, which is worth Rs 60 crore. There has been no compromise of data as of now but OIL has incurred a huge financial loss per its official complaint.
The cyber-attack comes as a major wake up call for India and warrants the question that if foreign forces behind the attack? If yes, how should India prepare for such cyberwars?
