DragonForce Malaysia said the attacks are retaliation for insulting remarks about Prophet Muhammed made by members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), India’s ruling party. On Friday, June 10, DragonForce Malaysia tweeted about the attack, calling on hackers all over the world to join their campaign against the Indian government. While Indian authorities have regained control over most of the hacked websites, some of them—including that of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)—remain inaccessible at this time. Last year, DragonForce Malaysia made headlines after hacking several Israeli government and private websites. The group also leaked user information from a private Israeli educational services website.
Hackers Target Several Websites
According to The Times of India, some hacked websites belong to organizations in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The hackers targeted well-known Indian schools and colleges and tried to breach the defenses of a prominent Indian bank. Another hacker group, known as 1877, launched similar attacks at the same time as DragonForce Malaysia. One website they breached displayed the following message—“We don’t have any problem with Indian people. They are free to choose their religion, but we won’t let them attack our religion (Islam).” The Indian government has come under scrutiny after two spokespersons of the BJP made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammed. Several Islamic countries have denounced the comments, including the UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Turkey, and Malaysia. The BJP has apologized for the comments and suspended the two members, but the hackers refused to accept India’s “words and apologies,” promising to take action against the country.
India Should Brace for Future Attacks, Experts Warn
The recent cyberattacks may only be the beginning of a larger campaign against the Indian government and Indian organizations. Cybersecurity experts have warned that such attacks are usually precursors to more dangerous cyberattacks, like data breaches and ransomware attacks. “These are politically motivated hackers and state actors. Defacement attacks are advanced persistent threats to future attacks like data theft and ransomware attacks on banking and critical infrastructure,” a cybersecurity expert told The Times of India. “All government and private sectors shall beef up the cyber security apparatus. When they attacked Israeli sites they leaked personal data, passport data and VPN credentials of Israeli companies. We should brace up for more cyber attacks,” the expert added. Prasad Patibandla, director at the Centre for Research on Cyber Intelligence and Digital Forensics, stressed the importance of improving network security. “Website defacement is the lowest form of cyber attack. Data theft, particularly financial data theft and personal data, will impact people and the banking sector. Companies and government organisations must step up cyber security,” Patibandla said. As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, it can be difficult to stay safe online. If you’re interested in learning how to avoid falling victim to hackers and cybercriminals, check out these cyber hygiene tips.
