Wipro steps up security after second e-mail threat

A second e-mail threat within a month made Wipro step up security at its offices across the country, said the software major on Friday.

"We have reinforced security at all our office locations in the country following a second threatening e-mail from an unidentified source," said the IT firm in a statement here.

Clarifying that the threat had no impact on its operations, the company said it had no comments on the threat as the investigation was on.

Acknowledging that the outsourcing firm had filed a complaint with the city cyber police station on the second e-mail threat, a police official said cyber sleuths were analysing the mail, as its anonymous sender had threatened to attack its employees with bio-chemical material if it did not pay a ransom of Rs 500 crore in bitcoin.

"We have registered a case under Section 66 F of the IT Act (cyber terrorism) and probing it to ascertain from where it originated and who sent it," said cyber crime police head Ravi Shankar.

The company received on May 6 a similar mail, which threatened to send a toxic drug to its campus in the city's southeast suburb if a Rs 500 crore ransom was not paid in the form of bitcoins, a digital currency outside the formal banking system.

The previous mail mentioned that "a biochemical powder (Ricin) will be sent in covers to your (Wipro) offices to assure that the threat is not fake."

The toxic material can be fatal if inhaled, taken as a pill or mixed in water for anyone.

--IANS

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