Cyberattack Paralyzes India eProcurement Portal

A cyberattack has shut down the governmental eProcurement system of the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka, reports in The New Indian Express said on Thursday (Aug. 8).

The government reportedly temporarily shut down the platform in the wake of the cyberattack upon advice from cybersecurity experts.

“In view of the detection of some external cyberattacks, the eProcurement portal of the government has been stopped since the last six days,” the government said in a statement. “All tender processes in Karnataka, as per Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, was successfully functioning for the last eight years.”

Another statement from the eGovernance Center’s chief executive officer said the platform is down for repairs, while reports noted that a complaint has been filed with the “cyber police station,” as is required in such an event. The case has also been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

Details on the exact nature of the cyberattack were unavailable.

Government systems are increasingly being targeted by cyberattacks. In the U.S., ransomware attacks have recently hit two Florida city government systems, followed by an attack on an Indiana city.

According to Recorded Future data, more than 20 municipalities, cities, counties and state governments have fallen victim to cyberattacks so far this year, with a growing debate over whether these government entities should use taxpayer money to pay the ransom and regain their systems or heed federal advice to not pay the ransom.

Last year, researchers at the Ponemon Institute warned about the growing threat of cyberattacks against government entities, estimating that 38 percent of public-sector entities will fall victim to ransomware attacks in 2018 – a 7 percent increase from 2017 and a whopping 25 percent increase from 2016.

According to analysts, government bodies are typically less prepared than private companies to manage cyberattacks, as they often lack the resources to hire cybersecurity personnel and invest in top-level security technologies.