Ransomexx Hackers Halt India Payment Systems

More than 300 banks in India were forced to halt their activities for a day due to an attack by the Mrowning Program. Millions of users were unable to conduct transactions through popular payment systems UPI, IMPS, Neft, and RTGS. The incident mainly affected cooperative and rural regional banks, as the attack targeted their main service provider C-Edge Technologies source.

In India, there are approximately 1,500 cooperative and rural regional banks that cater to customers in remote areas. One-fifth of these banks were impacted by the attack on July 31, rendering the C-Edge Technologies banking infrastructure inaccessible. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) took swift action by isolating C-Edge Technologies from the retail payment system, causing other unaffected banks to temporarily cease online services source.

By August 1, banks were able to resume operations as the investigation revealed that the attack was limited to C-Edge systems and did not compromise the creditors’ systems. The affected banks will now be able to resume transactions through United Payments Interface and other NPCI-managed payment systems source.

CloudSek reported that the attack on C-Edge Technologies also impacted Bronto-Technology Solutions, a key partner, and was orchestrated by the Ransomexx extortion group source.

/Reports, release notes, official announcements.