More than 100 computers of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which secures critical cyber infrastructure in the country, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology were reportedly compromised after a suspected malware attack.According to sources in the Delhi Police, which is probing the case, the incident took place in the first week of September, following which a case was registered.
The cyber attack was believed to have originated from an IT company in Bengaluru.In its complaint, NIC claimed that an employee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology received an email.
After the ministry official clicked on an attachment in the mail, all data stored in the system was automatically deleted.Following this, it was found that a bug had affected hundreds of computers of both the NIC and the ministry.Delhi Police sources said that the original e-mail was sent from a proxy server.
Further investigations are on, the sources added.The computers at the NIC and the ministry contain crucial data on India's security and high-profile government functionaries, including the prime minister, the national security advisor, among others.This comes amid reports of snooping on some Indian politicians, military leaders, journalists by China-based companies.
The government has already raised the issue with the Chinese envoy.Meanwhile, in a statement on the matter, the Delhi Police said a government employee had recently reported that he was having difficulty in accessing his official email account which was created by NIC but was lying unused for some weeks."The NIC has found that there was an attempted breach by unidentified cyber actors, a regular activity over cyber space which was, however, detected by NIC's robust cyber security systems," the police said.They added that a formal investigation has been launched by registering a case at Special Cell."The reports being carried in certain sections of the media about widespread cyber intrusion involving high offices are unsubstantiated and do not reflect the current stage of investigation.
Special Cell of the Delhi Police is probing the suspected malware attack which has affected and shown vulnerability in 100 computers of National Informatics Centre and Ministry of Electronic and Informational Technology," the statement said.
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