The Reserve Bank of India has directed banks to operate their ATMs only after updating their operating system. The instructions have been issued with a view to protect them from a malware named ‘Wanna Cry Ransomware’ impacting systems across the world.

The Ransomware took down computer systems across the globe locking up critical data and demanding bitcoins as ransom for its release. ATM machines are seen as being vulnerable since almost all of them run on Windows software. Also over 60 per cent of 2.25 lakh ATMs in the country run on the outdated Windows XP operating system.

Microsoft has, however, issued a statement saying that it has developed and released a special update for Windows XP although this particular version of its operating system is no longer serviced by the company. ATM operators, however, say that there is no threat to customer data on money.

In India, 102 computer systems of the Andhra Pradesh police were hacked on Saturday and a Nissan Renault plant production was halted because of the malware.

The IT ministry has reached out to key stakeholders like RBI, National Payments Corporation of India, NIC and UIDAI to advise them to protect their systems against the ransomware to ensure that the digital payments ecosystem in the country is protected.

The Ministry has also instructed cyber security unit CERT-In to gather information about this new threat.