WanaCry Could Spread to 70% of Indian ATMs

[CAD]

The cyber attack known variously as WanaCry and WanaCrypt0r 2.0 has led to warnings that up to 70 percent of India’s ATM network could be its next victim.

As ATMs in China are confirmed as being infiltrated by hackers the phenomenon continues to spread. The underlying Windows vulnerability at the root of the issue is a major problem for less secure infrastructure.

For India, it has become known that 70 percent of ATMs still run Windows XP, a 16-year-old operating system for which Microsoft has not released security updates since 2012.

"We have seen a big focus on ATM attacks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, including India," local news resource First Post quotes US-based cybersecurity company FireEye as saying.

“ATMs in underdeveloped countries are particularly vulnerable as those countries still have old ATM software and are running Windows XP. This makes them the perfect target for an easier score.”

XP has been at the heart of WanaCry’s damage in the UK, as many computers used in the country’s health provider the NHS still run the operating system.

ATMs are already a sore topic for Indian consumers meanwhile since November’s demonetization having become a hotspot for the cash shortages plaguing the nation.

At the same time, Bitcoin is blooming. Major exchange Zebpay announced today that over half a million people had downloaded its wallet app.

Source: cointelegraph

 

[takeiteasy]

Why they haven't moved old ATMs to Linux. It's time to move off critical services from toy operating system (Windows).

 

[Chhatrapati]

Why they haven't moved old ATMs to Linux. It's time to move off critical services from toy operating system (Windows).

Linux is not immune to any attacks. Linux still has a minimal usages share, and a Malware is aimed for mass destruction. No programmer will give his valuable time, to code day and night for such group and hence Linux is known to have little or no viruses.
Then again the malwares found in Linux are by openoffice/star basic macro language.

 

[ashok321]

Linux, Unix are satisfactorily protected but not immune.

 

[takeiteasy]

Actually, I'm amazed to observe the human behaviour - best example is Windows users without any good exposure to Linux or other alternate operating systems, may be these are for a bit nerdy guys like us. Still..? Please understand that whatever you've learned and "adjusted" with Windows operating system is NOT TRUE for UNIX systems. For stability and safety a comparison with Linux or BSDs or AIX whatever with Windows is like comparing a Maybach with Maruti 800. I suggest Windows believers may read this when you have time:
!=
(Linux is Not Windows)

Linux is not immune to any attacks.

Linux/BSDs are the safest. Yet to get the point, I guess. There is simply no comparison with microsoft windows os. Windows os is the toy of the masses. For mission critical it's the UNIX/UNIX-like systems.
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/

No programmer will give his valuable time, to code day and night for such group and hence Linux is known to have little or no viruses.

This is what most Windows supporters wanted. If we lived with anti-virus, bloatware, unstable operating system, the rest of the OS especially Linux which has no good marketing must be inferior, right? It's an expectation that evolves out of living in Windows eco-system. There can be superior, safer operating systems too. Linux and BSDs fits that bill.

http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/

 

[ashok321]

Ransomware attack hits over hundred computers of Guj police:

 

[ashok321]

• India third worst hit nation by ransomware Wannacry

 

[kṣamā]

The cyber attack known variously as WanaCry and WanaCrypt0r 2.0 has led to warnings that up to 70 percent of India’s ATM network could be its next victim.

As ATMs in China are confirmed as being infiltrated by hackers the phenomenon continues to spread. The underlying Windows vulnerability at the root of the issue is a major problem for less secure infrastructure.

For India, it has become known that 70 percent of ATMs still run Windows XP, a 16-year-old operating system for which Microsoft has not released security updates since 2012.

"We have seen a big focus on ATM attacks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, including India," local news resource First Post quotes US-based cybersecurity company FireEye as saying.

“ATMs in underdeveloped countries are particularly vulnerable as those countries still have old ATM software and are running Windows XP. This makes them the perfect target for an easier score.”

XP has been at the heart of WanaCry’s damage in the UK, as many computers used in the country’s health provider the NHS still run the operating system.

ATMs are already a sore topic for Indian consumers meanwhile since November’s demonetization having become a hotspot for the cash shortages plaguing the nation.

At the same time, Bitcoin is blooming. Major exchange Zebpay announced today that over half a million people had downloaded its wallet app.

Source: cointelegraph

HIGHLIGHTS

• Most ATMs run on (heavily limited) Windows XP
• Rumours circulating on WhatsApp are baseless
• RBI hasn't told any banks to close ATMs

ATMs in India aren’t susceptible to the Wanna Cry ransomware cyber attacks that spread like wildfire across the Internet over the past few days, as opposed to the rumours circulating in social circles, security experts say. The torrent of misinformation around the malware has given birth to rumours on WhatsApp, mostly in the form of regurgitated forwarded messages.

ATMs closed in India WhatsApp messages
Massive Ransomeware attack...Total 74 countries affected...Please do not open any email which has attachments with tasksche.exe. file

Please inform all contacts from your list not to open a video called the "Dance of the Hillary". It is a virus that formats your mobile. Beware it is very dangerous. They announced it today on BBC radio. Fwd this msg to as many as you can!

Facebook & Whatsapp will be filled next few days with fake warnings like don't open "Dance of Hillary" video etc. while ignoring major threat of Ransomware ~facepalm~





ATM 's will be close for next 2-3 days probably, due to ransomeware cyber attack within India. Don't do any online transactions today

And this other WhatsApp forward on the supposed global impact of Wanna Cry ‘virus’:

Except africa all countries IT companies are hacked. Don't open any shopping carts today.

Don't do any online transactions today. Also avoid using ATM unless very urgent. Stay tunned with latest news for updates...

Also keep antivirus ON and do not operate bank n shopin sites or pay utility through mobile hold on for today before doin nythin…

Stay tunned with latest news for updates...Also keep antivirus ON and do not operate bank n shopin sites or pay utility through mobile hold on for today before doin nythin.....

Ignoring the obvious spelling errors, and its blatant lying to stoke fears around the Wanna Cry malware, it’s worth reminding our readers that no widespread case of ATMs getting impacted in India have been reported, just yet.



Are ATMs in India vulnerable to Wanna Cry cyber attacks?
Experts caution that though it is important for ATM providers to update their systems, they may not directly be at threat since the computers are heavily limited by their firmware.

“Most ATMs in India use white-listing services to eliminate threats from malwares and worms within their internal networks,” [says] Saket Modi, CEO and co-founder of Lucideus, an IT risk assessment firm, told HT. “WannaCry doesn’t look like something that will affect the ATMs, unlike personal or corporate endpoints.”

Moreover, an RBI spokesperson clarified to India Today on Monday that it hadn’t told any banks to close ATMs: "RBI has not given any direction or issued any advisory to banks to shut down their ATMs. Wrong information is floating around that RBI has instructed banks to shut down ATMs.”

Though the rumours are ultimately baseless, they have been fuelled owing to the extent of the threat. According to unofficial estimates, between 50-70 percent of ATMs in India are using Windows XP, which stopped receiving updates from Microsoft three years ago. They were said to be the main target of the Wanna Cry malware cyber attacks, since Microsoft had already issued a patch that was designed to fix the vulnerabilities in newer versions of Windows.

Given the global impact of WannaCry, Microsoft has since issued an emergency patch for unsupported systems, but how many embedded systems like ATMs actually deploy this patch remains to be seen.

In addition, India’s IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sought to calm fears on Tuesday, stating the ransomware had ‘nearly zero’ impact in India. “After talking to Microsoft, we had asked people to install patch system in March,” Prasad told India TV. “This ongoing attack not only had minimum, but nearly zero percent impact, in India.”

Source: http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/...ber-attack-whatsapp-wanna-cry-rumours-1694207


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Please fact check before posting.

 

[ashok321]

Another large-scale cyberattack underway: Experts

 

[ashok321]

• Your phone could be ransomware's next target

 

[ashok321]

What a kill switch that!

http://www.theweek.in/news/world/kill-switch-stops-spread-of-global-cyber-attack.html

 

[surya kiran]

ATM mein paisa hoga tho log affect hongey. Paisa he nahin hai, ghanta wannacry kuch karega.