Public should not worry, say officials after IRCTC hack

All railway bodies in the city put up a united front to diffuse panic among passengers travelling out of the city following reports that the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website had been hacked. Central Railway, Western Railway and IRCTC in a press conference on May 6 said that they had internally given themselves a clear chit; however it did not seem to have any answers about the status of inquiry with Cyber Cell of Delhi or Maharashtra.

IRCTC Group GM (West Zone), Arvind Malkhede; CR GM Sunil Kumar Sood; and WR GM G.C. Agarwal all vouched that the public had nothing to worry about but when asked about their dialogue with the Cyber Cell, Mr Malkhede said, “I haven’t asked our head office about their dialogue with the cyber cell. IRCTC headquarters are in Delhi and you will have to ask them.”

Also, railway officials made contradictory statements regarding an FIR being lodged in the press conference when Mr Malkhede intervened and clarified that no such thing had been done. “No, as of now, we have not lodged any complaint with the cyber cell about hacking or any misuse of our website,” he said. Mr Sood on the other hand recommended that users take proactive steps and keep changing their passwords. “I think we all should realise that these are possibilities in the electronic world and we must change our passwords as much and as often as we can to thwart any such attempts,” he said.