Amid rising tensions in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani hackers are targeting Indian defence websites. According to sources in the defence establishment, the cyber attacks may have compromised sensitive information about defence personnel, including their login credentials.
A handle on X, Pakistan Cyber Force, has claimed that hackers gained access to sensitive data of the Military Engineer Services and the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. The group, sources said, has also tried to deface the website of Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence. The sources said the website of Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited has been taken offline for a thorough audit to assess the extent of any potential damage caused by the hacking attempt.
Cybersecurity experts, the sources said, are actively monitoring cyberspace to detect any additional attacks, particularly those that may be sponsored by threat actors linked to Pakistan. Also, appropriate measures are being taken to strengthen the security infrastructure to guard against further intrusion attempts.
The Pakistan Cyber Force handle, now withheld in India, had posted images of a webpage from Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited. In the image, an Indian tank had been replaced by a Pakistani tank. Another post had a list of names, ostensibly of Indian defence personnel, with a message: “Hacked. Your security is illusion. MES data owned.” The handle claimed that it had accessed more than 10 GB data of 1,600 users on the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis website.
Ties between India and Pakistan have touched rock bottom in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 25 tourists and a Kashmiri were shot dead in cold blood. The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the heinous attack.
India has vowed an exemplary response as the investigation into the terror strike points to a Pakistani hand, like several other attacks on Indian soil in the past. India has launched a series of diplomatic moves against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and visa services to Pakistani nationals. Marathon meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and top officials in the defence establishment suggest that a bigger action is imminent.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has gone back to its playbook of denying any role in the attacks and asking for evidence. Following terror strikes in the past, including the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, Indian authorities shared information and evidence with Pakistan, but the latter has never done enough to bring the perpetrators to justice. After India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan said any move to stop water flowing into the country would be seen as an act of power and threatened to suspend all bilateral pacts, including the Simla Agreement that validates the Line of Control.
It is against this backdrop that Pakistani hackers are targeting Indian defence websites. Earlier, websites of Army Public School (APS) Srinagar, APS Ranikhet, the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) database, and the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation portal had been attacked.
