Kochi: The global ransomware cyber attack, known as ‘WannaCry,’ hit the Thiruvananthapuram division office of the Southern Railway on Tuesday, a few days after the detection of the virus in several panchayat offices in the state.
However, the railway officials said no computers of any department related to train operations or passenger services like reservation were affected.
A railway spokesperson said the ransomware was first detected in one of the computers in the accounts department at 12.15 noon.
“A total of six personal computers were affected. The network was immediately disconnected and the affected PCs isolated. The PCs were being operated on a browser-based internal software with centralized database. Hence, there was no data loss,” the spokesperson said.
A warning message of the ransom attack appeared on the screen and the computers ceased to function. The emails were initially slow or not getting delivered, and the files could not be opened.
“We’ve deployed IT experts from our Signal and Communications wing and anti-virus was installed in other PCs. So far the virus was not detected in more computers. The team is yet to find the cause of the cyber attack though,” said V.C. Sudheesh, Chief Commercial Manager, Thiruvananthapuram division.
As many as 23 computers of the Southern Railway divisional office in Palakkad district were disabled by the cyber attack last week. Computers in panchayat offices in Kollam, Wayanad and Pathanamthitta districts too were affected earlier.
