ATM users need not worry about withdrawals being made at ATM kiosks because of the ransomware codenamed WannaCry (also known as WannaCrypt).

In fact, one can confidently use ATMs for withdrawals as well as for other purposes without any fear, owing to the simple reason that in the event of an attack, the ATM machine will automatically be locked.

Nabankur Sen, a senior banker and the Chief Information Security Officer at Bandhan Bank, shared, "One can openly do transactions through ATMs as well as use other machines at the bank, because infected machines will only prompt for bitcoins. With no response from the user side, no money will go to the hackers."

Sen added that it is not the end-users but the banks who have to be careful. The ransomware exploits a Microsoft vulnerability, and hence all computers and servers at the banks have to be updated and upgraded.

"Banks must ensure that they patch all end-points as well as update their anti-APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) solution systems," said Sen.

When asked how safe his bank was, he replied that Bandhan Bank had adopted proactive security measures.

"We have taken adequate security postures and measures. We have run the Microsoft MS 17-010 patch across all our end-points and imparted strict awareness and training to all our employees," he said.

Sen further added that people need to be careful about emails with unnecessary attachments or links that seem suspicious to avoid being hit by the ransomware threat.

He recommends, "Do not open attachments. Social engineering is at a high. They (hackers) will craft the email in such a manner that a user will be forced to click on a link. But, there is no such thing as free lunch. An example could be an email that you are eligible for a refund of Rs 55000 on your Income tax."

Although Sen is confident that his bank has adequately beefed up security, he believes that there could be more variants of the virus that can come again. "It is not end of the day, we have to constantly think of the tomorrow. There are deadly malwares crawling across, and banks have to be aware and take care of those," he said.