In the wake of the global WannaCry ransomware cyberattacks, the Reserve Bank of India has told the country's Windows XP-loving banks to run software updates, according to local press reports.
The WannaCry ransomware began infecting computers running Microsoft Windows on Friday and has already infected more than 200,000 machines in 150 countries, demanding Bitcoin ransom payments from victims including parts of the UK's National Health Service and FedEX in the US.
The ransomware uses an exploit developed by the US National Security Agency and is a particular threat to older operating systems such as Windows XP, which are no longer supported by Microsoft.
According to the Times of India, this has prompted the RBI to tell India's banks "not to operate ATM machines until updates are in place". However, while some ATMs have been shut down, a central bank spokesperson has since denied it has issued such an order, telling India Today that banks are simply being advised to run the updates.
Back in 2013, Microsoft warned that the Indian banking industry's reliance on Windows XP could put more than 34,000 branches at risk when support for the operating system ended. Yet, in February India's finance minister said that over 70% of ATMs were still running on XP.