Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, May 5: Even as tensions between India and Pakistan escalate following the barbaric terror attack in Pahalgam, a Pakistan-based hacker group calling itself the ‘Pakistan Cyber Force’ has claimed responsibility for hacking into multiple Indian defence-related websites, compromising sensitive data.
The group, through a series of posts on social media platform X, alleged that it had breached the portals of key Indian defence institutions, including the Military Engineering Services (MES), the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), and attempted to infiltrate the website of Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence.
One of the most brazen acts was the alleged defacement of AVNL’s website, where an image of an Indian tank was replaced with that of a Pakistani tank. The hackers taunted, "Your armoured factory is now owned by Pakistan, courtesy Pakistan Cyber Force."
According to their claims, the group accessed personal data, login credentials of defence personnel, and a trove of files totaling 10 GB related to over 1,600 users of MP-IDSA. A screenshot purportedly from MES systems carried the message: “Hacked. Your security is an illusion. MES data owned.”
In response, the website of AVNL was reportedly taken offline as cybersecurity teams began a detailed audit to determine the extent of the breach and plug any vulnerabilities.
Authorities have launched a full-scale investigation and have mobilized cyber defence units to assess the impact and bolster digital security frameworks. Meanwhile, security across sensitive military installations and high-security prisons in Jammu has been heightened following intelligence inputs suggesting a possible attack aimed at freeing jailed gangsters.
The cyberattack comes amid plummeting India-Pakistan relations, with diplomatic ties strained after Pakistan-sponsored terrorists killed 26 people in a brutal attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last week.