Hours after an Indian website was hacked by a Pakistani hacker, a wave of cyber attacks targeted at Pakistan have left dozens of Pakistani websites defaced or hacked. According to a report by the Hindu , the latest chapter in the long drawn feud between Indian and Pakistani hackers was added when a Pakistani hacker decided to hack the official website of the Government of Kerala , a southern Indian state.
The website remains inaccessible as of now, and is undergoing maintenance to restore it. A screenshot of the hacked web page of the government of Kerala led to a Pakistani hacker, identified as “Faisal.” A link to Faisal’s official website, too, was posted on the defaced page of the Kerala government website. Faisal also managed to hack and deface another website that belonged to the Government of Kerala .
The hacked webpages showed an image of a burning Indian flag. The hacker also mocked the poor security that was in place. Text on the website read as follows.
“Official website of the RC Office,Govt of Kerala- New Delhi Hacked!
Pakistan Zindabad”
Below this was a text that read as follows.
“We Are Team Pak Cyber Attacker. Security is just an illusion.”
Hours after Faisal’s attack, Indian hackers responded in a massive manner and took down nearly 50 Pakistani websites in what is believed to be one of the biggest cyber attack in recent times. A Facebook post on the official page of the Indian Hackers group called “The Mallu Cyber Soldiers” took responsibility for the hacking. It read as follows.
“Message to Script Kiddies of Pakistan….Do not touch Indian Websites
Now your 46 Pakistan government websites got crashed and 4 educational websites got defaced. This is a small payback for hacking kerala.gov.in
Faisal 1337 go home kiddo, you are F*****d”
The list of Pakistani websites include the official website of Pakistan, the official website of the President of Pakistan, the official website of the Pakistani Railways, the website of the Pakistani cabinet, and the Pakistani cultural department website.
Several other official websites of Pakistan remain inaccessible as of now. All the hacked Pakistani websites had text and theme similar to the one used by Faisal. It showed a Pakistani flag being burned, along with the following text.
“UNITED AS ONE DIVIDED BY ZERO
WE Are
CY83R_p1R735
Hell Shield Hackers
Team Hind Hackers
Mallu Cyber Soldiers
Hello Porkistani Script Kiddies
Better Stay Away From Indian Cyber Space
#OP_PAK_CYBER_SPACE
Payback for hacking kerala.gov.in
FEEL THE POWER OF INDIAN HACKERS”
A glance of Faisal’s official Facebook page reveals that he had, in the past, hacked into several Indian websites. The identity of Faisal, as well as the group of Indian hackers who launched the counter attack, remain unclear. There has been no official statement from either the Indian government or the Pakistani authorities after this latest bout of cyber attacks. However, initial reports say that the Pakistani hacker was only able to deface the homepage, and that no damage was done to the server that the website was hosted on. Officials from the Kerala State Data Center are working to restore the website.
This is not the first time that Indian and Pakistani hackers are having a go at each other. The two Asian countries are known to be traditional rivals and have fought four wars in the past over the contentious issue of Kashmir. In recent times, the war has spilled on to the Internet, where Indians and Pakistanis are famously known for going after each other in whatever way possible.
[Photo By Visual News / Getty Images | Facebook]