The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confirmed on Saturday that its website was hacked. The CBI has registered a case under the Information Technology Act.
"It has come to the notice of the CBI that its official website was unauthorizedly accessed and defaced during the night of December 3 and 4. A case has been registered in this connection in the cyber crime cell of the CBI,” an official spokesperson told the media on Saturday.
Efforts are ongoing to restore the website. "Efforts are underway to restore the website with the help of the National Informatics Centre and CBI cybersecurity experts," said the spokesperson.
Reports emerged on Friday that the website of India’s federal investigating agency had been hacked. The CBI website remained inaccessible today after it was hacked, allegedly by a Pakistani group. A group calling itself the Pakistan Cyber Army left a message on the CBI’s home page last night, claiming to have avenged the hacking of 40 Pakistani websites by Indians.
The Pakistan Cyber Army exposed the vulnerability of Indian cyberspace, claiming to have hacked 270 other Indian websites in response to attacks on Pakistani internet domains by a group calling itself the Indian Cyber Army.
The CBI invoked the Information Technology Act to register a case but did not name anyone in the FIR. They assured that efforts were being made to restore the website promptly.
The hacking incident highlights the insecurity of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) servers, which host government websites. “It has come to the notice of the CBI that its official website was illegally accessed and defaced in the intervening night of December 3 and 4,” stated the CBI, adding that the case was registered with the agency’s cyber crime cell.
The CBI is currently clueless about who attacked the website but noted that a message saying “Pakistan Zindabad” was posted on its website. This is not the first time NIC’s security system has been compromised. Chinese hackers have previously launched successful attacks, stealing documents from Indian government websites.
Visitors to the site, www.cbi.gov.in, were redirected to a page indicating that the site was hacked by a group called the Pakistani Cyber Army, allegedly to avenge the hacking of Pakistani websites by the Indian Cyber Army. The hackers posted the message "Pakistan Zindabad" (Long Live Pakistan) on the site, claiming to have hacked 270 other websites.
