Staff Reporter :
An international cyber attack, known as ransomware struck Bangladesh, affecting at least fifty computers so far, experts said on Monday.
“The ransomware attacked at least fifty computers so far in Bangladesh, which means such cyber attack began spreading across the country. Based on emails sent to us by the affected people, we counted the figure,” Tanvir Hasan Zoha, Advisor, Crime Research and Analysis Foundation (CRAF), told The New Nation yesterday.
“Only windows are affected by the Ransomware,” he added.
CRAF, a non-government research organisation, in its Facebook page also said a branch of a bank in Bangladesh was also infected with virus caused by the attack.
Besides, a college student became the victim of ransomware attack, it added.
Replying to a query, Zoha said this is not the real figure right now as the news of more affected people continue pouring in the CRAF. “The number of the affected computers may rise in a day or two. Two private television channels have also been affected,” he said.
Apart from these, the IT expert also said a large number of organisations have also been affected but they are trying to hide the information considering their reputation.
When asked about how and in what way such attack can be averted, Zoha requested people not to open un-trusted emails.
“We shouldn’t be panicked. We will have to be aware of the virus and careful when we will check our emails,” he said.
Bangladesh Network Operators Group Board of Trustee Chariman Sumon Ahmed said some institutions, including Asian TV, and many personal computers were also affected.
He also said but most of the organistions are unwilling to be named.
Bangladesh and Bhutan Kaspersky Lab Distributor Chief Executive Officer Prabir Sarker said a number of personal computers were affected by Ransomewar.
National Data Center Director Tareq Barkat Ullah said computers in government organisations are safe as Linux operating system is being used in all computers.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting was held in presence of State Minister for Post and Telecommunication Tarana Halim yesterday to discuss the situation.
Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission will air cautionary message on all TV channels.
The cyber attack began spreading across the globe on Friday and by Monday had locked up computers in more than 150 countries, with experts warning of an even wider impact as more employees logged on and checked e-mails, according to agencies.
European Union police agency Europol said on Monday the attack had hit 200,000 machines.
“These attacks help focus the minds of chief technology officers across corporations to make sure security protocols are up to date, and you often see bookings growth at cybersecurity companies as a result,”” said Neil Campling, head of technology research at Northern Trust.
The ransomware worm that stopped car factories, hospitals, shops and schools over the weekend worldwide, with Asia having escaped the worst so far, could wreak fresh havoc when employees log back on, cyber security experts warned.
“Individuals or organisations are not encouraged to pay the ransom as this does not guarantee files will be released. Report such instances of fraud to CERT-In and law enforcement agencies,” a CERT-In press statement said.
The spread of the virus WannaCry, which locked up more than 100,000 computers, had slowed on Sunday, but new versions of the worm were expected even while the world was yet to take stock of the extent of damage from Friday’s attack.
Microsoft released patches last month and on Friday to fix a vulnerability that allowed the worm to spread across networks.
Code for exploiting that bug, known as “Eternal Blue”, was released on the internet in March by a hacking group known as Shadow Brokers.
