Indians report spike in ransomware attacks, government says damage contained

The number of computers reported infected by a global ransomware attack in India has more than doubled to around 193 on Thursday from a day ago, a federal cyber security official said, adding that steps taken by the government have helped limit its spread.

Small Indian businesses and individuals continue to report being hit by the cyber-extortion campaign that began on Friday and has affected computers around the world, disrupting essential services and forcing some to meet the unidentified hackers' ransom demands.

New Delhi-based Computer Emergency Response Team is carrying out "regular drills" to ensure minimum damage to the country, its head Sanjay Bahl told Reuters late on Thursday, encouraging people to come forward and inform the agency about any attacks.

The government has said state organizations such as those managing government websites and building supercomputers had promptly installed security patches issued by Microsoft Corp, immunizing their systems.

Analysts have, however, warned that a lot of ransomware attacks in India would go unreported because of the high use of readily available pirated software by small companies.

"Those who are using pirated software, they don’t even have any patch," Bahl said. "They won't even report any attack. They have no option but to go for something new."