Hackers on both sides of the border up in arms, start an Indo-Pak [cyber] war!

Some Pakistani hackers allegedly hacked the Kerala government website, www.kerala.gov.in, on 27 September. The hackers posted a photo of the Indian flag aflame on the home screen, captioning it 'Pakistan Zindabad'. The hacker revealed his identity as 'hacked by Faisal 1337', on the home page.

However, within hours of the attack, Indian cyber groups like 'Mallu cyber soldiers' and 'Hell shied hackers' responded quickly and hacked around 120 Pakistani websites, defacing them.

'Mallu cyber soldiers' put up a Facebook post, mentioning that they had hacked more than 100 Pakistani websites and provided the links.

Facebook Screengrab

The list of hacked websites also included Pakistan government websites like Pakistan.gov.pk, president.gov.pk and cabinet.gov.pk.

The Pakistani hacker, who also has a Facebook page with the name Faisal 1337 has been regularly attacking various Indian websites and posting the information on his page.

After hacking the Kerala government website, his post read:

Facebook Screengrab

The Indian hackers hit back immediately and also warned him before hacking Pakistani websites.

Facebook Screengrab

Prior to this, on 23 September, Faisal 1337 had also hacked the Chennai Customs House website. He has also targeted websites of the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF), IMS Ghaziabad, Bodoland University, etc. in the recent past.

The Indian hackers' retaliation is being considered one of the biggest cyber attacks so far. However, this cyber war between India and Pakistan is not a new phenomenon. There have been similar occurrences in the past where hackers from both countries attacked official websites of the other.

In November, 2014, more than 20 government department and organisation websites of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, etc. were hacked and slogans accusing the Indian Army of atrocities against the Kashmiris were posted on the home pages.