Cyber attack on NHAI email server, 'prompt action' resulted in no data loss

The government had warned against a large-scale cyberattack against individuals and businesses earlier this month.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday said a cyberattack took place on its email server on Sunday night but prompt action resulted in no data loss.

As a precaution, the Authority had shut down the server.

"A ransom ware attack on NHAI email server took place yesterday night. The attack was foiled by the security system and email servers were shut down from safety point of view," NHAI Chief General Manager, IT, Akhilesh Srivastava, said.

The system is restored now, Srivastava added.

"No data loss took place. NHAI data lake and other systems remained unaffected from this attack," he said.

The government had warned against a large-scale cyberattack against individuals and businesses earlier this month.

India's cyber security nodal agency, CERT-In had issued an advisory warning that the potential phishing attacks could impersonate government agencies, departments and trade bodies that have been tasked to oversee disbursement of government fiscal aid.

The NHAI has been mandated the task to develop, maintain and manage National Highways, the arterial roads of the country, for inter-state movement of passengers and goods.

Sebi imposes a penalty of Rs 7,00,000 on NHAI for disclosure lapses

During its investigation, Sebi found that NHAI delayed filing of its half-yearly financial results by 4 days to 78 days between 2015-16 to 2018-19.

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 7 lakh on the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for delay in making timely disclosure about financial results.

Sebi had conducted an examination in the matter of NHAI from financial year 2015-16 to 2018-19.

During its investigation, Sebi found that NHAI delayed filing of its half-yearly financial results by 4 days to 78 days between 2015-16 to 2018-19.

The regulator had advised NHAI for strict compliance with the LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirement) Regulations in future.

However, despite the advisory by Sebi, NHAI did not submit the financial results on time with respect to the half year ending on September 30, 2018 and March 31, 2019.

The results were submitted with a delay of 19 days and 78 days, respectively.

"There was repeated failure (seven instances during FY 2015-16 to FY 2018-19) on the part of the noticee (NHAI) regarding compliance with the provisions ...LODR Regulations," Sebi said in an order.

Accordingly, the regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 7 lakh on NHAI.

In its reply to a show cause notice (SCN) issued by Sebi, NHAI said it seeks approval of the majority of its board members in relation to all matters including approval of unaudited half yearly results.

New speed breaker on India's road to $ 5 trn economy; NHAI's mounting debt

NHAI's debt has increased seven-fold in the past five years.

Business Standard : India’s path to economic recovery faces another obstacle, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the state road builder to stop constructing highways after its debt ballooned almost seven-fold over the past five years.

"National Highways Authority of India totally logjammed with unplanned and excessive expansion of roads," the prime minister’s office wrote to NHAI in a letter dated August 17. "NHAI mandated to pay several times the land cost; its construction costs also shooting up. Road infrastructure has become financially unviable."

Modi’s office proposed that NHAI be transformed into a road-asset management company, according to the letter obtained by Bloomberg, and the prime minister’s office asked NHAI to reply within a week.

The decision is a reversal from Modi’s first term, when his administration was praised for its breakneck speed of highway construction that helped make India one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. However this came with the burden of escalating costs, leaving NHAI increasingly dependent on the government for financial support at a time when Modi is looking to contain his budget deficit.

Restricting road-building risks imperiling Modi’s target to make India a $5 trillion economy as roads are necessary for socio-economic development, said Vikash Kumar Sharda, a partner at Infranomics Consulting LLP, who previously consulted for PWC India. “Road is critical infrastructure, and putting breaks on it will not only result in a slowdown of highway construction but also of other sectors that are dependent on it.”

There’s a strong co-relation between economic growth and investments in infrastructure, with roads accounting for about 3.1% of gross value added, Modi’s economic advisers said in a report this year. Data due Friday will probably show India’s gross domestic product expanded 5.7% in the quarter through June, the slowest pace in five years.

Modi’s office now wants NHAI to revert to a model used by his predecessor, where NHAI would auction projects to developers. They’d construct the roads, collect toll from users and then would transfer ownership back to NHAI after an agreed period. Weak private sector participation pushed Modi to scrap this practice and he permitted NHAI to bear as much as 100% of the costs in certain road projects that led to ballooning debt.