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 Analyses. 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.
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 In the image, an Indian tank had been replaced by a Pakistani tank.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 Analyses website.
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.
