Daily Times

LAHORE: The official website of the city district was restored on Wednesday three day after it was allegedly hacked by an Indian hacker group ‘IND 3MB3R’.

The attack is said to be a response to alleged Pakistani hackers targeting Indian websites.

The cyber warfare between Pakistan and India is not relatively new as hackers from both countries have had defaced several websites of each other’s country.

Interestingly, The Urban Unit, which has developed the website, is not ready to accept the responsibility for running the web portal. When contacted, The Urban Unit Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’s spokesperson said, “We have handed over the website to the City District Government Lahore (CDGL).

While Lord Mayor Spokesperson Imran Maqbool said that the website was in the control of the CDGL and not of the CDGL.

Meanwhile, the Indian hacker group in a message left on the hacked web portal of the city district claimed that it was a response to the alleged hacking by Pakistan hackers collectively called Pak Cyber Skullz, which had allegedly defaced the Indian Government District Education Office Surat website.

“Pakistani kids keep distance from Indian server. It’s payback for hacking Indian

sites.” The hacker group had not only defaced the website with an image of a ‘Sadhu’ but also posted Indian Army insignia,” read the message left by the Indian hacker group on the web portal of the city district.

Earlier, the web portal of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Commission was allegedly hacked by Indian hackers last month while a Pakistani hacker group ‘Alone Injector’ had also allegedly defaced the Indian National Security Guard (NSG)’s website and left anti-India messages targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to different national and international media reports, ‘Pakistan Haxors Crew’ had claimed to have defaced 7,051 times Indian websites, including government and non-government, especially after India launched surgical strike in Indian-held Kashmir.

Similarly, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account was targeted in December 2016 while Indian Institute of Technology’s servers were hacked by anonymous hackers with the message ‘Pakistan Jindabad’ left on the web portal.

In October 2016, Pakistani hackers allegedly forced Indian pilots to listen a song ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ after hacking into Indian planes.