Indonesian police sets up task force to recover computers hit by ransomware attack

Indonesian national police has established a task force to help recover computer systems hit by ransomeware viruses as they have affected two major hospitals in the country, a senior police officer said here Monday.

Director of Cyber Crime at National Police's Investigation Unit Brigadier General Fadil Imran disclosed that cooperation with police counterparts from foreign nations have also been carried out.

"We have set up an emergency response team along with the Communication and Information Ministry and other state institutions. The task of the team is to help conduct recovery," he said.

"We have also cooperated with fellows from FBI, IGCI Singapore and UK NCA for unveiling the perpetrators," he added.

According to the ministry, Harapan Kita hospital and Dharmais hospital have been attacked by ransomware viruses.

The WannaCry virus targeting Microsoft Windows operating system have infected tens of thousands of computers in over 100 countries globally by tricking victims into opening malicious attachments to spam emails.

The disruption of the virus is unprecedented as it locks or encrypts all files on the victim computer and one infection can spread within the whole network. Endit