London link in Lucknow hotel cyber attack

LUCKNOW: The cybercell of Lucknow police believes the recent ransomware attack on a city hotel could have been made from London.

Sleuths of the cybercell made these claims after authorities of The Piccadily said they had been getting frequent phone calls from a London-based number after the attack.

The hotel’s finance controller Jitendra Kumar Singh said, “We received four calls from the same number a day after the attack. The callers inquired about the ransomware attack and asked about the progress in the case. Later, they also agreed to offer assistance.”

After the hotel reported this to the police, two more calls were made a day later.

Officers in the cybercell, meanwhile, said the call could be a trap.

“The call for help is a mere trap and often those in trouble agree to pay the sum,” said Rahul Rathore, sub-inspector in cybercell.

He added though that the possibility of the attack originating in London could not be ruled out. However, he said, it was also possible that the numbers were virtual ones. “We are trying to work out the case. Our first task is to unlock the data blocked by the criminals,” said Rathore.

The hotel’s accounting, billing and inventory details of about seven years have been compromised.

In a case in Bengaluru, a similar ransomware attack was made on an automobile company in 2017. The attackers had called up the company from London-based numbers. Later, it had turned out that the attackers were based in London but their services were taken by a group based in Mumbai.