India's largest container port JNPT hit by malware attack, Petya; IT Minister says India isn't 'much affected'

Image: JNPT/Twitter

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday confirmed that one of the terminals at the JNPT port has been impacted by the latest malware attack. "The (shipping) ministry has confirmed that one terminal at JNPT has been affected due to the attack at Maersk's Hague office," an official said, adding that the government will share a report or a statement as soon as it comes to this effect. Maritime conglomerate Maersk group confirmed that its operations were hit by the cyber attack. "We can confirm that on Tuesday, June 27, AP Moller-Maersk was hit as part of a cyber attack named Petya, affecting multiple sites and select business units," Maersk said in a tweet. It said, "We are responding to the situation to contain and limit the impact and uphold operations." The group is "assessing and managing" the situation to minimise the impact on its customers and partners. Operations at the terminal of the nation's largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) were impacted last night as a fallout of the global ransomware attack, which crippled some central banks and many large corporations in Europe. AP Moller-Maersk, one of the affected entities globally, operates the Gateway Terminals India (GTI) at JNPT, which has a capacity to handle 1.8 million standard container units. "We have been informed that the operations at GTI have come to a standstill because their systems are down (due to the malware attack). They are trying to work manually," a senior JNPT official told PTI last night. The official explained that JNPT is trying to help the company, but there is little that others can do as the problem is with the systems. Fearing some clogging up of cargo, additional parking space is being made available, the official said, promising to help in any possible manner. The Hague-based APM Terminals also operates the Pipavav terminal in Gujarat. Foreign media reports from the Netherlands capital The Hague quoting the pubcaster RTV Rijnmond said a new ransomware virus called Petya has hit 17 APM terminals, including two in Rotterdam and 15 in other parts of the world. APM Terminals is a subsidiary of shipping giant Maersk, which has confirmed that it is suffering from a cyber attack. "We can confirm that Maersk's IT systems are down across multiple geographies and business units due to a cyber attack. We continue to assess the situation. The safety of our employees, our operation and our customers businesses is our top priority. We will update when we have more information," the spokesperson said in a written statement issued globally. The current attacks come weeks after the Wannacry ransomware attack, which affected systems of many companies. Firms that were hit today include Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft, global advertising giant WPP Group and multiple institutions in Ukraine, including its central bank and an international airport. Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday said it has started proactive measures to keep the country insulated from the latest round of ransomware attack, which has hit Europe, adding that so far there was no large-scale impact on India. "We have been taking proactive steps... we have sent out advisories (on the cyber attack and the malware)... India is not much affected at this stage," IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day National Convention on 'Digitalization: Opportunities and Challenges'. Prasad said the government is keeping close watch on the issue. The Shipping Ministry on Wednesday said operations at one of the container terminals at Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) port was impacted due to a global cyber attack. According to the Ministry of Shipping, a private terminal operator at the the JNPT was taking steps to address the issue. It was anticipated that there could be bunching of in-bound and out-bound container cargos. "An unforeseen situation has developed at the JNPT owing to disruption in the operations of one of the private terminal operator, APM Maersk," said a Ministry statement. "It has been informed by the private terminal operator that this disruption is a consequence of a worldwide disruption being faced by them because of a cyber attack," it added. The Ministry said the JNPT was taking steps to ensure minimum disturbance to trade, transporters and local citizens. (With inputs from agencies)