Ransomware virus infects more than 150 computers of Gujarat police

The Gujarat police on Tuesday said over 150 of its computers installed at various police stations across the state have been infected by the global ransomware 'WannaCry.'

"Around 150 computers of police stations across the state have been infected. We have deployed a team of technical staff to take corrective measures," said Superintendent of Police Ashok Yadav of Gujarat State Crime Records Bureau.

"There has been no data loss, but we immediately deputed 130 site engineers to police stations to check the system," he said. He said the affected computers, connected to the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) and BSNL network, have been isolated to prevent spread of the ransomware.

"We have also started installing anti-virus system and security patches. We are also training the staff," he said. Ahmedabad city police on Tuesday conducted a workshop to train its officials.

"They were trained as to how to save data, how to carry out patch update for unsupported operating systems," said a police official. "Seven teams have been formed for this... online and on-site training at police stations would continue," he said.

Science and Technology Department Secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi had on Monday said some 120 computers connected to GSWAN were infected by the virus, which crippled the work at district-and tehsil-level offices.

Over the last few days, WannaCry has infected computers running on older versions of Microsoft operating systems like XP worldwide, locking access to files.

The cyber criminals demanded about USD 300 in crypto-currencies like Bitcoin for unlocking the device. Reports suggest that over 2 lakh systems globally could have been infected by the malicious software.