THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The official website of the State government was hacked and defaced by unidentified hackers early morning on Sunday. Visitors to the website www.kerala.gov.in were greeted by the image of a burning national flag and slogans “hacked by Faisal 1337”, “Pakistan Zindabad” and “We are team Pak Cyber attacker” and “security is just an illusion”.
Also Read: Indian Hackers Launch Counter Attack
Officials of the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), the government agency that maintains the website, said the hackers could not access the server and the website would be restored soon.
The hacker adopted the SQL injection technique to subvert the homepage of the site around 1 a.m. The cyber cell of the state police have initiated a probe into the incident. Assistant Commissioner of the Cell Vinayakumaran Nair said they have asked for the log details from the state IT Mission.
The officials said the identity of the hacker could only be ascertained after a detailed probe and the “pro-Pakistan” slogans could be an attempt to mislead. In similar incidents in the past, the officials said, the hackers had operated from the country itself.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters that the government views the incident seriously.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, in his Facebook post, said a security audit of all government websiteswould be conducted by the Cyberdome of the state police, which would start functioning soon. The Minister added that hacking occurs “worldwide”. Five months ago, about 30 websites of the state government agencies were hacked. The government has asked the State IT Mission to put in place necessary security arrangements to prevent such incidents in the future.
Kerala State IT Mission director Mohammed Safarulla said the hacking of website would not affect government’s e-services as the portal contained only general information. He said the website would be restored on Sunday night.
The government website is hosted at the State Data Centre-I. The data centre hosts crucial e-governance applications of the state and the hacker’s access to the official website has raised serious security questions.