On Thursday, officials reported that an individual gained unauthorized access to the ticketing system of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).
Demand
According to UPSRTC, the attackers have demanded payment in exchange for restoring the system.
An official stated that the hacker encrypted passenger data and has requested a ransom of Rs 40 crores in bitcoins, based on the valuation of Indian currency, to return the data to the Transport Department.
The hacker has also threatened to increase the ransom amount if the payment is not made within two days.
Online bookings affected
Foreign hackers breached the UPSRTC website at approximately 2 am on Wednesday, resulting in a complete halt to online bookings for the state-run bus service.
Yajuvendra Singh, the General Manager of IT at UPSRTC, reported that a case has been filed under the IT Act for the destruction of online data.
The online ticketing system for the Transport Corporation is managed by Orion Pro Company.
Third party firm deploys own experts
UPSRTC has dispatched a team of experts to retrieve the website’s data and has requested one week to establish new servers and resume online bookings.
UPSRTC has initiated legal action in Navi Mumbai and filed a separate case with the Gomti Nagar police station.
The Uttar Pradesh government has instructed a third-party security audit of all applications and web portals operated by M/s Orion Pro.
Back to manual operations
UPSRTC is currently working on restoring the online ticketing system in all 20 areas and 115 depots of the company, and anticipates completion within 7-10 days.
It is estimated that it will take approximately 10 days to resume online bookings.
To prevent disruption to the operation of buses, the transport corporation is currently using manual ticketing.
Regional officers have been directed to supervise bus stands and depots around the clock.
