Mumbai: In a cybercrime incident, Sunil Nishankar (43), Chief Information Security Officer at Generali Central Life Insurance Company, filed a complaint with the East Cyber Police Station after the company was allegedly targeted by the Medusa ransomware group. Generali Central Life Insurance is headquartered at Embassy 247, LBS Marg, Vikhroli (West). Nishankar, a resident of Thane, reported the matter following the alleged breach.
Discovery of the Breach
According to the complaint, Nishankar was informed on September 28 at 7:30 pm by his acquaintance Rajendra Panchal about a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) by the handle Falcon Feed.io (@FalconFeedsio). The post claimed that Generali Central Insurance Company Limited had reportedly fallen victim to the Medusa ransomware.
Upon learning about the post, Nishankar initiated an internal investigation at the company’s Mumbai headquarters, which revealed unauthorized access and a potential data leak from the company’s digital systems.
Ransom Demand and Forensic Investigation
Generali Central Life Insurance appointed a forensic audit firm to conduct a detailed technical probe. Although the company has not received a direct ransom demand, an anonymous post on the Medusa Blog reportedly demanded:
USD 500,000 for deleting the stolen data
USD 500,000 for allowing the company to download its data
USD 10,000 for extending the payment deadline
The post warned that failure to pay by October 25 would result in the stolen data being sold on the dark web.
Police Action and Cybersecurity Concerns
Based on this information, Nishankar lodged a formal complaint against the X user Falcon Feed.io. Police have registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act for cyber extortion and data theft. A senior cyber officer confirmed that investigators are tracing the IP address and origin of the post.
This case highlights the growing threat of ransomware attacks on major financial and insurance institutions in India.
