Indian Railways Hit By Malware Attack From Pakistan, China; Train Movement Data Stolen

The Tough time seems to continue as at one side Indian soldiers continue to face the violent clashes with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and another news comes about a malware attacking the Indian Railways network and snooping its data for foreign countries, which includes train movements.

How Did This Happen?

As per the reports, the Railways Board Chairman V.K. Yadav said that the national transporter keeps on getting malware security threats.

On the other hand, the railways engineers keep on taking all precautions and frequently updating the firewalls to prevent data theft.

The other interesting fact is, this news comes a day after the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Limited (DFCCIL) decided to terminate the 417-km signalling project worth Rs 471 crore.

The project was to be conducted with Chinese firm Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Company Limited (BNRRDISC) due to non-performance.

Further, the intelligence agency said that the system of the Railways has been hit by the APT 36 Malware campaign. 

According to the sources, the intel agencies have further alerted the Railway Board to instantly disconnect the system with the Internet and also suggested changing the password immediately.

What About The Malware?

As per the sources, the APT 36 Malware is connected to Pakistan, which seems to be a close ally of China nowadays. 

Further, following the red flag from the intel agencies, the system of a senior Principal Executive Director of the Railways, who works in its vigilance department, has been working on cleaning the malware threat.

With the use of this APT 36 Malware campaign, data stored in the Indian Railways systems were being stolen and stored in foreign locations, this also includes the movement of the trains.

Further, the sources also claimed that the APT 36 Malware also tried to take defence movement data.

The APT 36 Malware affected over four systems of the Indian Railways, as per the reports.

What Does The Railway Say?

In response to the queries, the Railways Board Chairman said, “Whether it is our systems or the IRCTC, we continuously update it with firewalls, and it is an ongoing process we get the updates.”

Further, Yadav said that their system is updated from time to time, they get malware threats on a regular basis and look at it continuously.

While talking about the stolen data, he said, “It has not come to our notice that some information has been leaked. Our systems are secure and our engineers keep on working on it,”.