Oil India becomes victim of cyber attack; here's how much hackers demand

Oil India Limited, a government of India-owned enterprise headquartered at Duliajan in Assam is facing its “biggest cyberattack in recent years”, with perpetrators asking for $75,00,000 (about INR 57 Cr) in Bitcoin as ransom through a note.

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In an FIR lodged with the Duliajan Police Station in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district on Tuesday, OIL said its IT department detected the ransomware attack in one of the workstations of its geological and reservoir (G&R) department on April 10.

A ransomware attack results in the victims’ data and files getting locked and encrypted and the attacker seeks money to unlock the system.

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The public sector undertaking OIL and the government exchequer have incurred a huge financial loss due to the cyberattack - ransomware, as the business through the IT system has been seriously affected, OIL Manager (Security) Sachin Kumar said in the police complaint.

According to reports, the IB team is conducting an investigation into the matter, and has also reportedly taken into possession photographic evidences that are related to the case.