According to recent publications, Tech Mahindra, the Indian multinational tech-corporation has filed complaints of a ransomware attack on the Pune-Chinchwad Smart City project managed by Tech Mahindra.
This has apparently resulted in an estimated loss of Rs 5 crore while the ransom against the attack has been demanded to be paid off in Bitcoins.
In late 2019, Tech Mahindra secured the PCMC Smart city project worth Rs 500 crore under which the business corporation would engage in transforming the city into a “Smart City” with sustainable IT infrastructure, comprising of technological inter-city solutions.
According to the complaint that was lodged, the ransomware attack took place on the 26th of February, and subsequently, a criminal felony was recorded on the 9th of March by a Tech Mahindra employee.
About 25 of The PCMC Smart City servers were seemingly impacted in this ransomware attack which, according to Tech Mahindra’s statements, and need to be restored after thorough investigations.
Questioning Tech Mahindra cybersecurity measures:
Since the ransomware attack involved the compromisation of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) assets in this case, the Smart City servers, a rather tangible reaction was bound to be expected from consequential parties.
Political parties are seemingly demanding action against Tech Mahindra in response to the ransomware attack while the PCMC has denied paying any amount in suffered losses to the tech corp.
The ransomware attack also raises questions about Tech Mahindra’s security implementations with political individuals commenting on the poor firewalls and cybersecurity measures deployed by the tech corporation.
From its perspective, Tech Mahindra has stated that they are working alongside law authorities as well as cybersecurity experts to investigate the matter.
“On February 26, we were informed about the ransomware attack on PCMC servers. The team briefed the whole situation to the cybersecurity officials and filed an FIR with the police. After a detailed analysis of the situation in the past 10 days, we have come to the conclusion that 25 servers are impacted, which need to be rebuilt along with the implementation of a robust security system. Our team is monitoring the situation on a regular basis and has also continued the work on rebuilding the environment without touching the infected servers.” affirmed Tech Mahindra.