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Power Grid puts firewalls; no power outages due to Ransomware

Central transmission utility Power Grid on Monday said it has put sufficient firewalls to deal with the global cyber attack…

Power Grid puts firewalls; no power outages due to Ransomware

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

Central transmission utility Power Grid on Monday said it has put sufficient firewalls to deal with the global cyber attack Ramsomware and consumers need not fear sudden outages on that account.

Power Grid's top brass deliberated on the strategy to deal with the Ransomware, a malicious software that infects computers and restricts user access until ransom is paid for unlocking them.

"Since the Power Grid operations are information technology based, the issue was discussed in detail at a meeting of board members chaired by Chairman and Managing Director I S Jha this morning," a senior official said.

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The official said instructions have already been issued to the employees not to open certain mails or download material which can infect our system.

"There are reports that it has affected certain sectors like banks. But in our case we have put sufficient firewalls to deal with the situation to protect our system," he said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology had said that multiple cases of WannaCry/WannaCrypt ransomware infections in many countries around the world have been reported recently.

It said: "In India, no reports have been formally received so far regarding this Ransomware attack. However, it is understood that a few systems of the Police Department in Andhra Pradesh were impacted. The ministry has informed Andhra Pradesh Government, to follow the CERT-In advisory." 

Meanwhile, European and British policing and security agencies have warned that the fallout from an unprecedented global cyberattack which has hit more than 200,000 victims could worsen as people return to work.

An international manhunt was under way for the plotters behind the world's biggest-ever computer ransom assault which has affected more than 150 countries.

The virus exploits a flaw in a version of Microsoft Windows first identified by US intelligence.

The attacks exploited the computers because they were running outdated versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

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