Indian gov't advises sensitive fields to use stand-alone computers to avoid ransomeware attacks

India's federal government has advised officers working in sensitive and strategic fields to use stand-alone computers to avert ransomeware attacks, officials said Tuesday.

The officers working in these fields have also been cautioned to store data and critical information on the computers without internet connectivity.

The advisory has been sent as a precautionary measure to all those who handle sensitive desks in the ministries of home, finance, defence, external affairs and security agencies.

India's state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) quoting a senior security officer said they keep on advising officers regularly in some ministries and departments to use stand-alone computers for storing sensitive information so that no one can hack them.

In wake of the global ransomeware attacks impacting systems across the world, on Monday India's central banking institution - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to run their ATMs only after updating their operating system.

The malware named "WannaCry" has affected systems across the globe, taking down computer systems, locking up critical data and demanding bitcoins as ransom for its release.

In India, 102 computer systems of the Andhra Pradesh police were hacked on Saturday and a Nissan Renault car production plant in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) was halted because of the malware.

Indian government's cyber security wing - Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has cautioned the country's key stakeholders like RBI, National Payments Corporation of India, National Informatics Center (NIC) and other organizations of the malware and advised them to protect their systems against the ransomware.

A massive cyber attack on Friday evening struck organizations in some 100 countries across the world. Russia and Spain are among the most affected by the malicious software, reports said. Endit