Sam Pitroda on Saturday said that his laptop, smartphone and server have been hacked repeatedly over the past few weeks, reports said.
The Chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, who is considered a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, Pitroda said that the hackers issued threats to him, demanding payment of tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Sam Pitroda, in an email to news agency ANI, informed about the hacking incident. He said the hackers have threatened to damage his reputation if he fails to pay tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
"The hackers have issued threats, demanding payment of tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency. They have warned that if unpaid they will launch a smear and misinformation campaign to tarnish my reputation by contacting people in my network," he said.
Pitroda, in his email, further advised not to click any unknown links and warned of malware that could harm devices.
Currently away from Chicago, Pitroda plans to address these security issues upon his return by updating his hardware, sofware and implementing enhanced security protocols.