BSNL, MTNL strengthen networks to thwart cyberattacks

In the wake of rising cyber attacks, state-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL have upped the ante to protect their networks from such breaches.

BSNL has plans to invest Rs 50 crore on strengthening cyber security across its various units, in addition to Rs 50 crore it spent recently towards this segment, company's chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told DNA Money.

Two years ago, BSNL had one of the weakest networks, which could be compromised by a child hacker but after various measures related to cyber space were implemented across the board, our network is among the strongest, Shrivastava said.

Another public sector telecom company MTNL, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, is also in the process of taking new initiatives in the cyber security space. However, it did not give any specific details.

The development comes after the broadband network of both the telecom firms was hit by a malware attack last week which impacted about 20,000-25,000 users. About 2,000 users of BSNL were impacted while rest were from MTNL. Both the companies claim that the malware attack has been controlled and the broadband services were impacted only for a brief period.

"A malware attack led to reconfiguration of all modems. About 15,000-20,000 consumers were hit due to a malfunction in a Taiwanese chipset," a senior MTNL official said.

He said the problem happened globally due to some vulnerability which was exploited by the malware. "We have already blocked the gateways and rectified the faults."

MTNL users were being redirected to malicious and web pages with ads and pornography. The modems have been reconfigured now and there have been replacements where the issue was severe.

BSNL also said the few users were impacted but now they have reconfigured the affected modems. "In the modems affected by the attack, the 'Internet' LED display of the modem turned to red colour, and internet surfing was not happening. It has been identified that the attack is mostly limited to the modems for which the customers are continuing with the default admin password, and those which are associated with already infected computers/devices," BSNL said.

Customers were advised to immediately to change the default modem password to their unique password, following best practices of setting passwords so as to prevent virus attack into their modems, the company said.

THWARTING ATTACK

• The broadband network of BSNL, MTNL was hit by a malware attack
   
• MTNL users were being redirected to malicious and web pages