Cyber Attack On India’s Biggest Port: Ransomware Cripples Services At Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

MUMBAI: After experiencing a ransomware attack on its computer systems, India’s only state-owned and managed container terminal has allegedly begun turning away ships. According to sources, the terminal uncovered the threat on February 21 and began diverting ships to the complex’s other terminals near Mumbai on Monday.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal is one of five container terminals that make up India’s largest container port, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, which handles half of the country’s containers. Despite the fact that the terminal is the smallest in the port complex, the outage occurs at a time when the government is actively pushing the facility’s privatisation.

According to reports, a total of 12 bidders for the privatisation of the operation, including significant international container terminal operators, submitted proposals. The collapse of its computer system highlighted industry criticism about a lack of investment at the terminal.

According to media reports, authorities at the terminal worked hard all day Monday to try to restore their systems. They had warned, however, that if the systems were not restored by Tuesday, they would have to start turning ships away.

In 2021, container traffic at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust’s whole port increased by more than 25% to over 5.6 million TEUs.

For the first time, each of the two main terminals handled more than one million TEU in a calendar year. In 2021, the port, which opened in 1989, handled about 55 percent of India’s container trade.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal, which has over 2,000 feet of dock space, was the first to open at the port. It has the capacity to handle over one million containers per year. According to some accounts, the terminal only handles roughly 500,000 TEU yearly, but the government wants it to play a bigger part in the port’s overall operations as it grows. The privatisation contract was supposed to be awarded by July 2022.

The port’s four privately managed terminals are said to be running normally and should be able to handle traffic destined for the state-run terminal.

This is the second time a regional port has been hit by ransomware in less than a year. Transnet, which runs South Africa’s cargo facility in Durban, was also hit by ransomware in July 2021, forcing the port to shut down much of its operations. Due to the intensity of the attack, which also affected Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Ngqura, Transnet declared force majeure, disrupting operations for over two weeks.

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