Cyber attack knocks out TG-iPASS, govt says backup available - The Times of India
A ransomware attack has knocked offline Telangana's flagship single-window business clearance portal TG-iPASS, with investigators finding the database encrypted.
The breach occurred around 11:36 pm on October 22, affecting the TG-iPASS portal (ipass.telangana.gov.in), which provides crucial G2B (government-to-business) services in Telangana. The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has registered a case under Sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology Act following a complaint from Sanga Suresh, joint director of industries.
Technical details
The TG-iPASS technical team discovered they couldn't connect to the database server hosted by Cloud4C. Despite server restart attempts, the SQL server agent service remained non-functional. Investigators found affected files renamed with an unfamiliar ".vgb" extension and a ransom note containing a contact email address, though no monetary demand was made.
There was no demand for money; only contact mail ID was provided. The data appears to have been encrypted rather than deleted. As of now, the portal and database remain inaccessible.
Response and recovery
While investigators noted "the security measures were not satisfactory," a top industries department official assured: "We have backup for data and the website will be up and running by Monday morning." The TGCSB has been asked to isolate affected systems, preserve logs, and conduct forensic investigation to determine if any data was accessed or exfiltrated.
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