The Indonesian government has said in a statement that it expects the global cyber attack that freezes the computer locking down all data, is likely to cause more damage once the business and offices reopen after the weekend on Monday.
The ransomware virus WannaCry, which was unleashed upon the world on Friday, had attacked a large hospital in Jakarta. However, there is no evidence that Indonesia was indeed the worst hit country, as within hours of getting discovered 99 countries reported the attack on thousands of computers.
Communication and Information Minister of Indonesia Rudiantara has urged the companies to update their systems before connecting it to local area networks when the week starts.
"This is crucial for businesses when reopening on Monday, please beware and anticipate, and take preventive steps against the WannaCry malware attack," Rudiantara said at a news conference.
WannaCry attacked victim computers and reportedly the hackers demanded $300-600 to restore access to the existing files of a user. The authority of Indonesia has asked the citizens not to pay the ransom, as there wasn't any guarantee that the hackers would have given the access back.
According to an official, so far, two Jakarta hospitals, Dharmais and Harapan Kita, have been affected by the attack. Although, Harapan Kita was later denied to have been affected, said the publication.
"Globally, hospitals, companies, and universities have been affected, with the most disruptive attacks reported in Britain, where hospitals and clinics were forced to turn away patients after losing access to computers on Friday", reported The Straits Times.
