Kolkata: A ransomware attack on the server of a Sector V company handling online college admissions has compromised students’ data and disrupted the entrance process for multiple institutes. The attack involved unauthorised access to servers, financial fraud and an extortion bid.According to the complaint, the first breach occurred between June 15 and 16 on a server hosted in Chennai, allowing the accused access to admission databases for Scottish Church College. The accused used fake email addresses to send fraudulent payment instructions to UG candidates, several of whom were reportedly conned into transferring so-called fees to different accounts. “The breach came to our notice after several candidates told us they had received emails, mentioning bank details and asking them to transfer money. We told all candidates neither to share any details nor send money to this account,” said Scottish Church College principal Madhumanjari Mandal. “But from Tuesday to Friday morning, those handling the admission process could not access the website. A new server had to bought and admissions were restarted in the afternoon.” Surya Shakti Infotech Pvt Ltd director Praveen Kumar Jha lodged a complaint at the Bidhannagar Cybercrime PS, saying the company received “multiple coordinated cyber intrusions” between June 15 and June 25. The breaches targeted servers hosted in Chennai and Dallas, resulting in the students’ data theft and deletion of admission database of several institutes, including Scottish Church. The complainant said while emergency security measures were implemented after the first breach, two more attacks followed on June 24 and June 25, targeting servers in both Chennai and Dallas, which deleted admission records of multiple colleges. The company also received an email on June 24 from a ProtonMail ID — scot.adm.report@protonmail.com — that contained implicit threats and hinted at a ransom demand.A senior Bidhannagar City Police officer said, “Hackers reportedly gained unauthorised access to admission data and sent fraudulent emails to applicants, instructing them to transfer money. Several students are believed to have lost money.” Bidhannagar Cybercrime Police have registered a case under IT Act and the BNS, 2023.
