Production at the Nissan-Renault plant has been halted following a cyber attack, called ransomware. The Japanese and French manufacturers' UK operations were halted yesterday following a similar attack.
Ransomware is a new form of digital extortion. It locks down systems by encrypting the data on it, only releasing it once a ransom amount has been paid. It targets a loophole in the Windows XP operating system, the support for which had been stopped by Microsoft back in 2014. In case of Renault and Nissan, the ransomware used is called Wanna Decryptor or WannaCry.
Apart from the Renault-Nissan operations, this ransomware has also crippled Andhra Pradesh’s Police Department computers and several other MNCs. Speaking to Times of India, Gulshan Rai, National Cyber Security Adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office said, "About 100 systems were attacked, but as of now there are no more threats.” We are awaiting official statements from Nissan and Renault regarding the same.
