Man files complaint at Thane police station over NotPetya malware infection: Report

The recent wave of global malware attacks has affected a large number of people and organisations. The malware attack on 27 June which originated in Ukraine and Russia has spread rapidly and India is the **seventh most infected country** in the world. The exact source of the malware is rarely found and authorities struggle to pin the blame on any particular person. Interestingly, a report in The Economic Times states that the Maharashtra police “filed a first information report against unknown people for extorting money” via the NotPetya malware. The complaint was reportedly filed by Giriraj Deshpande at the Thane police station. His computer was allegedly infected by NotPetya, rendered unusable and a ransom was demanded. As **we reported earlier** , NotPetya is very likely to be a cyberweapon and not mere ransomware. Various pointers suggest that the malware was designed specifically to target Ukrainian businesses and to wipe data. The purpose of the ransomware is to destroy data, not holding it to ransom. In the case of Deshpande, it is unlikely that anything will come off the FIR as the malware is very likely of foreign origin. The malware is reported to have infected a number of institutions and organisations around the country, most notably a private container terminal operating in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).