Oil India clarifies on cyberattack, Rs 57 cr ransom report

Oil India clarified in a BSE filing that it had detected a malware threat on April 10, and precautionary measures were taken subsequently. It added that there has been no bearing on its operations. The clarification comes after a PTI report stated that the PSU major suffered a cyberattack, disrupting its operations in Assam. The report further added that Oil India received a ransom demand of Rs 57 crore. 

“A malware threat on the IT systems of the company was noticed by the officials and on 10.04.2022 after receipt of the report of malware threat, precautionary measures were taken by the company. Network management service providers and the anti-virus team were also immediately informed about the incident. The incident was also reported to CERT-in,” the company said in a filing. 

It said that no attempts were made by the company to establish contact with the miscreants. “The source of the information quoted in the article is not known to the company,” Oil India said. 

The PSU said that there has been no bearing on the operations or the performance of the company due to the malware threat that warrants public announcement. “Presently, uninterrupted operations are going on and business continuity is maintained,” it added. 

According to the PTI report, the attack took place at one of OIL’s workstations of the Geological and Reservoir department on April 10, but it was intimated by the IT department on Tuesday (April 12), said OIL Manager (Security) Sachin Kumar in the police complaint.

A senior official from OIL's pipeline headquarters at Narengi in Guwahati told the news agency that following the cyberattack, they shut down their entire network, although their system did not suffer any attack. "Our work is badly affected as we are fully dependent on the internet network. Our IT engineers are constantly monitoring the situation and they are fully prepared to thwart any cyberattack," he told the news agency on condition of anonymity.

Also read: India’s monthly oil purchase from Russia less than Europe’s in an afternoon: Jaishankar