On Saturday, the Ministry of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure had a data breach as a result of an anonymous ransomware attack, according to local news outlets.
A ransomware attack is a malicious software that threatens to publish or block access to data or a computer system until the victim pays a ransom price.
The bulk of the planning ministry’s workers have been advised to take the day off while the ransomware attack on their website is being fixed, as the majority of the planning ministry’s computers have been rendered inoperable owing to the ransomware attack.
According to local news outlets, the ransomware attack targeted the planning ministry and other government ministries. However, no official remarks have been issued by authorities on the subject.
The Maldives Police Service has also refused to divulge any information on the incident, therefore the amount of ransom requested from the planning ministry in exchange for the data is still unknown.