Land registries in Gurgaon resumed after ransomware security upgrade

The land deed registry office was shut for three days to bolster the software in face of the Wannacry threat

A heavy rush was seen at the revenue office at the Mini-Secretariat in Gurgaon on Thursday after registration of land deeds started again. It had been stopped by the state revenue authorities for three days as a precaution against the ‘Wannacry’ ransomware that has affected thousands of computers across the world.

Despite the huge crowd at the land deed registration office when it opened on Thursday, officials said only 100 registrations would be executed, on a first-come-first-serve basis. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

In these three days, the revenue authorities in Gurgaon and Chandigarh have got firewalls and online patches installed to upgrade the software and prevent any breach of sensitive land record data.

According to land registration officials, as the land deed registration process and data are online, it was imperative to fix the software and systems, which was done in Chandigarh and Gurgaon. Notwithstanding the large crowd on Thursday, officials said only 100 registrations would be done on a a first-come-first-serve basis.

“For the last couple of days, the software and systems were being upgraded in the wake of the cyber threat. We had made the system functional by Wednesday afternoon and everything was checked in both Gurgaon and Chandigarh to ensure that we are ready for any challenge,” said Hardeep Singh, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon.

Singh also said that the precautionary measures have been taken because more than 90% of revenue records in the state have been digitised and integrated with the state’s property registration software, called Haryana Registration Information System (HARIS).

The revenue department has also integrated HARIS and Haryana Land Records Administration System (HALRIS) for mutation and jamabandi so that it provides a single interface for property registration.

The Gurgaon administration has also asked banks in the district to ensure that any bug or threat to ATMs is addressed so that bank customers are not affected. “The banks have been asked to resolve the cyber threat in a manner that ATMs are not closed,” said Singh.

On May 15, the state government had issued an advisory through the National Informatics Centre, Haryana, asking people to report if they have fallen prey to ransomware such as Wannacry, and not pay any ransom. The advisory also asked users to regularly check information stored in databases, keep file backup, and upgrade their softwares and third-party applications.