In yet another incident which points to the lax security of websites at Indian educational institutes, the online portals of Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University and IIT-Delhi were hacked on Tuesday, allegedly by a Pakistani group.
According to a report in The Hindu, websites of at least 10 institutes were compromised. Including the three mentioned above, IIT-BHU and University of Kerala were also among the hacked.
According to Mohammad Ibrar’s report in TOI, the hackers have been identified as “Pakistan Haxtors Crew.” Messages posted on the websites said that the act was in “solidarity of Kashmiri People being killed by Indian Army [sic].”
It went on to speak out about alleged army atrocities in the volatile state and questioned, “how would you feel if your brother, sister, father and mother get killed?” and “Won’t your life and families be destroyed?”
@PMOIndia @narendramodi @ZeeNews @smritiirani @rsprasad @RubikaLiyaquat @dna @sudhirchaudhary PAK HACKED DU WEBSITE https://t.co/CMSwqwxBz7 pic.twitter.com/LGNCEM4JIf
— Bhagesh Pant (@BhageshPant) April 26, 2017
The message further went on to say that “Kashmir will be Pakistan” and that people in Kashmir had “the right to live in peace.” It continued that the Indian government should take their “murderers and rapists,” apparently referring to the Indian army, back home.
As per the screenshots of the hacked pages on social media, the culprits also posted videos of alleged police brutality in Kashmir.
The hackers’ message also claimed that this was in response to the hacking of Pakistan’s railways website by an Indian hacker.
DU website is hacked#duhacked pic.twitter.com/bxBIbhkNQl
— rishabh (@anrik_001) April 25, 2017
The message ends stating that nothing had been deleted or stolen, and the hackers just wanted to deliver a message to the Indian government. “Security is just an illusion. Pakistan zindabad,” it says.
The hacked pages replaced the usual interface of these websites at around 3.30pm, accompanied by music from ‘Zeest,’ a Pakistani rock band.
DU’s admission has been completely digitized, which makes this hacking even more ominous. However, Tarun Das, Registrar of Delhi University, said that the problem was detected immediately and rectified. SS Vinod Chandra, Director of University of Kerala’s Computer Centre, said the university’s website had been unaffected.