In a missive to the press moments ago, the Guyana Power and Light Inc. said that it experienced a cyber-attack on its computerized systems.
GPL said tat upon identification of this cyber-attack, it took immediate actions to isolate and prevent further spread of the malware. It said that permanent corrective measures were taken, which included but was not limited to initiating Information System quarantine.
GPL said, “During this period, while our company assiduously worked to restore normalcy, there were service interruptions for customers visiting our offices attempting to submit queries and new service applications as our Customer Information System was taken offline. Service was incrementally restored at our Commercial Offices and Customer Call Centres between Friday, February 8, and Sunday, February 10. Our prepaid customers were able to purchase tokens during this period as per norm and our electricity supply was not affected by this incident.”
The company added, “The perpetrators of this act requested a ransom of bitcoins (digital money) to remove all encryptions from within the network. However, it should be noted that GPL Inc. has not heeded to and will not heed to any such ransom. GPL has commenced the process of strengthening its cyber-attack mitigation measures and Disaster Recovery planning strategies in alignment with industry best practices.”
GPL said it is therefore fitting, local companies with computerized systems review their existing cyber security systems and Disaster Recovery plans also.
