Daily Post 2999
16 BROKERS BREACHED
Getting hacked in the new normal. In this new normal more often than not ransomware is the favored tool. Ransomware gangs are reigning kings of the cybercriminal world, gaining more expertise and consequently striking much deeper for bigger booty. As per our, the legal mandate to report a breach compulsorily is still not there, which is a major flaw. Still big breaches make big news even despite this, for the simple reason that when services get impacted and it gets known to the world, there is no way it can be stopped. Hitting a shared data center of critical services is certainly a prize catch.
The data center in question is the Comtel data center which happens to keep stockbroker’s servers and other networking equipment. A headline which is chilling in itself, “Ransomware attack hits data center, 16 brokers likely affected. Comtel data center provides various services, including rack space, power and bandwidth. It also rents out hardware. Naturally, a ransomware attack on this nature of the tech infra, totally throws out of gear the critical operations of the concerned brokerages. This is what has precisely happened in this case.
In all 16 brokers have been impacted which includes big brokerage houses like IIFL Securities, 5 paisa and Axis Securities. If you are hit by such an attack what is mandated legal liability which falls on you? Exchanges might just stop your operations for the fear of horizontal spread of the attack. Two of the three leading exchanges have blocked the concerned brokers. How will they be able to resume operations? They will need to get “a certificate from certified auditors to regain access to the exchanges,” as per laid down regulations of the market regulator SEBI.
Comtel data center has been used by the brokerages to better manage their costs. They have the liberty to maintain their own data centers. The attack on Comtel happened on Dec 9 evening compromising the security of nearly 16 brokers and their clients. Clients could have been accessed and their order flow compromised. The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have stopped access for most of these brokers in consonance with the SEBI guidelines. Later Axis Securities has reported that their systems are fully functional. Now for the brokerages to be operational again, a certificate from Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) needs to be obtained unequivocally stating that their systems are free from any ransomware and are operating smoothly.
WITH THE NATURE OF SPECIALISED RANSOMWARE ATTACK IN VOGUE, CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE IS UNDER SERIOUS THREAT.
Sanjay Sahay