NetWalker ransomware group has hit Pakistan’s largest private power supplier – K-Electric. Though the ransomware hasn’t affected the power supply of K-Electric to customers, it did affect the online services like billing payments on the website. K-Electric hasn’t released any official statement yet, but the NetWalker’s page in dark web demands a ransom of $3.8 million in Bitcoin.
K-Electric Power Supplier Hacked by NetWalker Ransomware
K-Electric is by far the largest private power supplier of Pakistan, based on Karachi, Sindh. It a vertically integrated company that operates all three business operations like producing, transmission and distribution of power utilities to residents, agriculture and for commercial uses. It’s having a history of 100 long years, and employees more than 10,000 people.
The company was reportedly hacked by NetWalker ransomware, and got some of its data encrypted or at least, the online operations were altered. Since yesterday, the regular online billing process through its website was disabled, and K-Electric has tried rerouting this through a staged site.
While it’s still facing problems with the online operations, the supply of electric power isn’t halted. As per BleepingComputer, a local Pakistani security firm has tipped Ransom Leaks, which reveals that the NetWalker ransomware group claims the attack. This was later confirmed by BleepingComputer in the NetWalker’s Tor payment page, where it clearly listed the attacking of K-Electric.
The page has options for payment in Bitcoin and sections defining the stolen data, sample decrypting, FAQs and chat with the attackers. Though the stolen data page has nothing about the stolen data, NetWalker gave the K-Electric a time upto 15th of this month to pay the requisite ransom – $3.8 million in Bitcoin. They have even set a countdown to double the amount to $7.7 million after the fixed period.
The NetWalker ransomware has grown with skilled hackers recently, which led the malicious gang to bag at least $25 million till date as ransoms. It has hit Argentina’s immigration agency lately, which halted the border crossing for hours before bringing systems to normal.
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