New Delhi: In a major embarrassment, the website of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was hacked on Friday night by programmers identifying themselves as "Pakistani Cyber Army".
The home page of the CBI website had a message from the 'Pakistani Cyber Army' warning the Indian Cyber Army not to attack their websites.
The CBI website, supposed to be one of the most secure websites, is connected to the command centre of world police organisation - Interpol - 24x7.
The message from the hackers also spoke about the filtering controls provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a body which mans computer servers across the country. It also claims to have hacked another 270 websites.
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Intelligence agencies have been often warning the government that proper cyber security was not being ensured in government offices and that no security audit was being carried out.
The website has still not been restored. In a late night statement, the investigating agency said, "CBI is aware that its official website has been hacked and defaced. An inquiry has been launched and necessary remedial measures are underway to restore it."
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has said that the cyber attack on the CBI website is serious issue and that he would look into it. "These are important issues, we will look into it," Sibal said. (Watch)
Speaking on the issue, Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert Pavan Duggal said the hacking of CBI website is an act of cyber war. "I think this is not a mere hacking incident. It is a step towards a cyber war," he said.
CBI website hacked by 'Pak Cyber Army'
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December 5, 2010, 5:17am
NEW DELHI (AFP) Cyber-attackers who identified themselves as the "Pakistan Cyber Army" have hacked the website of India's top police agency, officials said on Saturday.
The website of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was hacked by programmers who left a message saying that the attack was in revenge for similar Indian assaults on Pakistani sites, Press Trust of India said.
The hackers signed their message on the Indian police website: "Long Live Pakistan."
CBI authorities said they were working to restore the site, which offered information to the public.
The spokeswoman said she could not comment on Indian media reports that more than 200 other Indian sites had also been attacked by Pakistani hackers.
"We came to know the CBI site had been compromised Friday night," the spokeswoman told AFP, asking not to be named. "It will take us a couple of days to restore the site."
She said she could not immediately say who was responsible for the attack.
The CBI has "registered a case" and is investigating the attack, she said.
The message posted on the CBI site said the attack was "in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'," the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
"Hacked hahaa funny," the message said. "Let us see what you investigating agency so called CBI can do" (sic).
Hackers had also infiltrated the server of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which maintains most of the government's websites, PTI reported.
In August, a group also calling itself the "Pakistan Cyber Army" hacked into the website of independent Indian MP Vijay Mallya, a flamboyant liquor baron, who is also head of Kingfisher Airlines.
The group claims to have hacked a number of Indian websites in recent years, including India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, in retaliation for Indian hackers accessing Pakistan sites.
Indian IT specialists have long lamented what they say is a lack of awareness about Internet security across the country, including in the corridors of power.
Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, said it would have been easy for attackers to get into the CBI public site as it was "not a particularly sensitive" one.
The Indian government "has a very low level of cyber awareness and cyber security. We don't take cyber security as seriously as the rest of the world," he said.
He added that the government needed to "make at least 10 times the current level of investment to get their standards to match the rest of the world."
According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, a government agency that tracks IT security issues, more than 3,600 Indian websites were hacked in the first six months of this year.
The home page of the CBI website had a message from the 'Pakistani Cyber Army' warning the Indian Cyber Army not to attack their websites.
The CBI website, supposed to be one of the most secure websites, is connected to the command centre of world police organisation - Interpol - 24x7.
The message from the hackers also spoke about the filtering controls provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a body which mans computer servers across the country. It also claims to have hacked another 270 websites.
* Share this on Rediff.com Rediff.com
* NDTVTwitter
* NDTVNDTV Social
* Share with MessengerLive Messenger
* NDTVGmail Buzz
* NDTVPrint
Intelligence agencies have been often warning the government that proper cyber security was not being ensured in government offices and that no security audit was being carried out.
The website has still not been restored. In a late night statement, the investigating agency said, "CBI is aware that its official website has been hacked and defaced. An inquiry has been launched and necessary remedial measures are underway to restore it."
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has said that the cyber attack on the CBI website is serious issue and that he would look into it. "These are important issues, we will look into it," Sibal said. (Watch)
Speaking on the issue, Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert Pavan Duggal said the hacking of CBI website is an act of cyber war. "I think this is not a mere hacking incident. It is a step towards a cyber war," he said.
CBI website hacked by 'Pak Cyber Army'
------------------------------------------------------------------
December 5, 2010, 5:17am
NEW DELHI (AFP) Cyber-attackers who identified themselves as the "Pakistan Cyber Army" have hacked the website of India's top police agency, officials said on Saturday.
The website of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was hacked by programmers who left a message saying that the attack was in revenge for similar Indian assaults on Pakistani sites, Press Trust of India said.
The hackers signed their message on the Indian police website: "Long Live Pakistan."
CBI authorities said they were working to restore the site, which offered information to the public.
The spokeswoman said she could not comment on Indian media reports that more than 200 other Indian sites had also been attacked by Pakistani hackers.
"We came to know the CBI site had been compromised Friday night," the spokeswoman told AFP, asking not to be named. "It will take us a couple of days to restore the site."
She said she could not immediately say who was responsible for the attack.
The CBI has "registered a case" and is investigating the attack, she said.
The message posted on the CBI site said the attack was "in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'," the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
"Hacked hahaa funny," the message said. "Let us see what you investigating agency so called CBI can do" (sic).
Hackers had also infiltrated the server of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which maintains most of the government's websites, PTI reported.
In August, a group also calling itself the "Pakistan Cyber Army" hacked into the website of independent Indian MP Vijay Mallya, a flamboyant liquor baron, who is also head of Kingfisher Airlines.
The group claims to have hacked a number of Indian websites in recent years, including India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, in retaliation for Indian hackers accessing Pakistan sites.
Indian IT specialists have long lamented what they say is a lack of awareness about Internet security across the country, including in the corridors of power.
Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, said it would have been easy for attackers to get into the CBI public site as it was "not a particularly sensitive" one.
The Indian government "has a very low level of cyber awareness and cyber security. We don't take cyber security as seriously as the rest of the world," he said.
He added that the government needed to "make at least 10 times the current level of investment to get their standards to match the rest of the world."
According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, a government agency that tracks IT security issues, more than 3,600 Indian websites were hacked in the first six months of this year.
