MUMBAI: Locky Ransom virus, which has created havoc in the world, has locked 150 computers in Revenue and Public Works Department of Mantralaya in Maharashtra. Though the state has averted major disaster of infection to other systems, the government had to literally struggle to stop damaging the files further.
The Information Technology department, with the help of experts, has managed to control the virus but the threat still persists, as the Mantralaya computers are not completely foolproof against the virus. The IT department has at present locked the private mailing sites like gmail, yahoo, rediff to avoid external mailing through which the virus can hit the system again.
“We are allowing only the official government mails so that the other computers remain safe. Also, we have upgraded the systems with three types of anti-virus softwares. Unfortunately, the Locky virus comes with an extension that has military encryption, which no one has been able to de-code so far in the world,” Principal Secretary of IT department Vijaykumar Gautam told this newspaper.
The Locky virus when enters the computer locks the entire system and sends message to the user to pay some amount which is in bitcoin. It is used worldwide to harass big institutions for ransom hence the name Locky Ransom. The virus entered the system around May 11 or 12 but was detected last Friday only.
