Malware affected server was isolated following the attack: Biman

The email server of Biman Bangladesh that went down following a ransomware attack on Saturday was isolated following the incident, the airline said Thursday.

"Recently, several media outlets are spreading misleading information about the temporary shutdown of the e-mail server of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The matter has come under the notice of the aviation authorities," the company said in a press release on Thursday.

"On Saturday, a number of computers and servers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were attacked by malware and immediately the suspected server was isolated and the e-mail service was stopped on that day," it added.

Biman also said that e-mail IDs related to operational activities are enabled through Microsoft cloud services.

Necessary steps are being taken following the technical guidelines given by the digital security agency, it added.  

Biman requested not to spread any misleading information in this regard.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali said on Wednesday that a probe body has been formed to investigate the matter. 

"I have already spoken with the managing director of the national flag carrier. Measures are underway in this regard," he said.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines' email server was hacked in a ransomware attack on 17 March. 

Following the attack, its server went down disrupting all internal communication. It has been six days since the incident and the airline is yet to recover its server.

However, Biman's flight operation was unharmed in the attack.

Ransomware is a type of malware that threatens the client to either permanently prevent access to the server or to disclose the victim's personal data unless a ransom is paid.