Ransomware threat: Odisha police plea for NTRO assistance raises question
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Crime Branch investigates into two instances of WannaCry attack in the State, a big question is posed over the State Police reportedly seeking assistance from National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
The NTRO is an intelligence agency which deals with specific technical areas which is why the State Police’s request appears absurd.
Besides, there are two nodal and dedicated national agencies which are entrusted with tackling such crisis.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIP) are agencies that deal with cyber terrorism, cyber warfare and similar threats.
These two agencies have been regularly updating advisories about the ransomware attack which begs the question why NTRO should be approached.
Interestingly, the State Police top brass have also gone on record stating that Internet services have been banned across police stations to minimise the threat of WannaCry although the fact remains that Internet access has not been stopped.
‘’We don’t use Internet in systems which are covered under Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS). So, what is the point in not using it in other systems?’’ said an officer.
In fact, CCTNS is not exposed to WannaCry attack as it uses intranet and not the Internet system. It is a very secured network with its servers at National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as well as at the State Data Centre. In case of a disaster, there is a recovery protocol in place.