India not much affected by global malware attack yet: IT Minister Ravi Prasad

New Delhi : 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 here.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day National Convention on 'Digitalization: Opportunities and Challenges'.

Prasad said the government is keeping a 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 JNPT was taking steps to address the issue.

It was anticipated that there could be bunching of inbound and outbound 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.