India 7th worst hit by Petya ransomware

Globally, India ranked as the seventh most impacted nation.

Ukraine, the US, and Russia were among the worst hit by Petya that struck organizations across the world earlier this week. Other countries that were impacted included France, the UK, Germany, China, and Japan.

This is the second time in two months that hackers have tried to hold computers at ransom, threatening to wipe out critical data unless the users paid up. In May, 'WannaCry' ransomware attack affected systems in over 100 countries.

Once infected by the ransomware, the systems are locked and a demand of $300 in Bitcoins is made to recover the files. However, it is not clear whether the systems are decrypted after the payment is made. Some of the biggest corporations including Russia's largest oil company Rosneft, Ukraine's international airport, shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk, and advertising giant WPP have come under the latest attack.

In India, one of the terminals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) was impacted, while there was partial disruption of operations at the private port operator, APM Terminals Pipavav.

The Indian government has already sent out advisories to critical infrastructure agencies and is keeping a close vigil on the situation.

Security firms have warned that 'Petya' could be particularly potent as it uses "multiple techniques" to automatically spread in a network soon after the first system is infected.

They have advised companies to update their Windows software, check their security solutions and ensure they have backup and ransomware detection in place.

They have also advised users to refrain from clicking on suspicious emails and regularly update the security patches on their PCs.

Two days after being impacted by the global malware attack, APM Terminals Pipavav on Thursday said operations at the port in Gujarat are slower than usual, as system recovery efforts are on.

"APM Terminals Pipavav is operational though slower than the usual. Employees are safe and communications to our customers and partners are on," it said in a statement.

The statement added that the issue remains "contained" and the company is working towards "technical recovery".

"As a precautionary measure, a number of our IT systems have been deliberately shut down across the offices and at the port, also impacting our email systems," it said.

It, however, declined to specify the extent of the impact, saying an assessment of the situation is on at present.

The company reiterated on Thursday that business continuity plans are being implemented and prioritized. "We are collaborating with IT experts and industry leaders to reinstate services safely and without further disruption," it said. The Gujarat Pipavav Port scrip was trading 0.87 per cent up at Rs 145.40 a piece on the NSE at 1431 hrs, as against a 0.49 percent gain on the benchmark.