International Solar Alliance (ISA), India’s first global outreach body, has reported losing Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million) in two cybercrimes in a month after discovering that a payment to a vendor based in Somalia had been redirected to an alias account. This prompted ISA to file a police complaint and issue a show-cause notice to a staff member it suspected of being involved in the incident.
In a letter to Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi, who also serves as the organization’s current leader, the ISA recognized the September event.
“The cyber attacker changed the details of the banks of our international vendors and sent invoices for payments (which had to be made to our vendors) to be paid to the fraudulent bank accounts,” the letter by ISA Director General Ajay Mathur to the minister said.
“The hacker replaced original emails and planted fraudulent emails with a request letter and invoices to be paid to fraudulent bank accounts,” Mathur added.
The payment, according to the group, was meant for ISA vendors with offices in Somalia who help with outreach and infrastructural development initiatives in the area.
“We made payments of $357,783 (Rs 3 crore) in good faith, but because of the forgery and cheating, there is now a possibility of disputes with the vendors/banks of the same amount,” the letter stated.
This is the second cybercrime incident that the business has dealt with in the past month. According to ISA, the first incidence involved a German seller.
According to ISA’s letter, they were aware of the security issue on September 19 and were notified by their Somalian vendor, Hayle Barise Energy Solutions, on September 23 that they had not been paid.
“On further investigation, it was found that we paid the amount based on a fraudulent email changing the bank account to one in Dubai,” the letter said, adding that during the same period, account details of another vendor, RENAC AG, in Germany were also changed to a fraudulent one.
According to the letter, ISA has begun awareness campaigns and corrective actions, filed a police report, and sent a show-cause notice to a member of its staff who is thought to have been involved in the incident.
At the ISA launch, Prime Minister Narendra D. Modi claimed that the organization would grow into a worldwide clean energy organization akin to OPEC.
There are now 101 members and 120 signatory nations in the ISA. By 2030, the ISA Framework Agreement seeks to provide 1000 Gw of solar power capacity to 1 billion people and mobilize $1,000 billion in investment in solar energy.
According to ISA, they had already made 9.5 Gw available to private investors in a number of nations, including Mali, Cuba, Venezuela, Prague, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
The majority of African countries are connected to the ISA. Additionally, it serves as the focal point for the One Sun, One World, and One Grid initiatives, which the prime minister announced and which will link countries with abundant solar power by means of a shared power transmission network.
The ISA network includes the majority of African countries, and the organization concentrates many programs throughout the continent that target off-grid solar solutions and technological advancements.
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