NEW DELHI: Websites associated with the Indian Armed Forces were subjected to cyber attacks involving hacking and page defacement. The incidents took place in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, which claimed 26 lives.
Sources pointed to "Pakistan-based cyber actors" who, "not content after executing the Pahalgam terrorist attack and violating the ceasefire on the LoC daily," redirected their efforts towards publicly accessible welfare and educational websites after finding mission-critical national networks impenetrable.
Operating under the moniker "IOK Hacker" – Internet of Khilafah – the group aimed to deface pages, disrupt online services, and harvest personal information. India's layered cyber-security architecture detected the intrusions in real time and quickly traced their origin to Pakistan, said the source.
According to intelligence assessments, there were four confirmed incidents.
The websites of Army Public School (APS) Srinagar and APS Ranikhet were both targeted with inflammatory propaganda; APS Srinagar also faced a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. An attempted breach of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) database was also detected, while a concurrent effort was made to compromise the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation portal.
All four sites were promptly isolated, and restorative action was undertaken. No operational or classified networks were affected at any stage.
“These frustrated attempts highlight both the adversary's intent and its limitations,” the source added.
The attacks came a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs recommended banning or blocking websites and YouTube channels originating from Pakistan.
On Monday, the Government of India banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including Dawn News, Samaa TV, ARY News, Geo News, and others, in India.
The action was taken for disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives, and misinformation against India, its Army, and security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir, said sources.