Oil India Limited hit by a major Cyberattack

Oil India Limited (OIL), India’s second-largest government-owned hydrocarbon producer has been hit by a major cyberattack. The attack has compromised some of the servers of the OIL. The cyberattack has targeted the OIL’s headquarters in Assam. As per the media reports, the attackers have demanded 196 bitcoins as ransom. At the current prices (approx. ₹31.35 lakh per bitcoin), 196 bitcoins are worth more than ₹61 crores. Tridiv Hazarika, OIL’s spokesperson in a statement informed that while the breach is serious and the virus is dangerous, the company, as a precautionary measure has disabled the affected systems.

This will enable the company to prevent the virus from spreading to other servers, especially when the vector used for the cyberattack is still under investigation. Hazarika further said that the cyberattack has not had any impact on the company’s day-to-day operations so far and that its operations are ongoing without any disruption. As per a report by Recorded Future, which is a threat intelligence company, these attacks against the Indian power grid could be a part of an espionage operation. The report stated: “The prolonged targeting of Indian power grid assets by Chinese state-linked groups offers limited economic espionage or traditional intelligence gathering opportunities.”