Hackers threaten Indian websites

Published on 03/12/2010 21:23

A GROUP calling itself the Pakistani Cyber Army has hacked into the website of India's federal crime investigation bureau and left a warning message to Indian hackers, as tensions between the two countries enter the online world.

The website of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been infiltrated as nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have made efforts to repair relations and rebuild the trust that evaporated after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The website remained offline yesterday after the action against it on Friday night.

The group has warned that it would carry out the "mass defacement" of Indian websites, according to the Press Trust of India.

"CBI registered a case for the defacement of its website," the agency said yesterday. "It has come to the notice of CBI that its official website was unauthorisedly accessed and defaced. A case has been registered in this connection."

South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan have gone to war three times since independence from Britain in 1947 and each remains on alert about perceived threats from the other.

The Indian government has raised concerns over its cyber security after a series of attacks on government websites by suspected Chinese hackers, including the site for the office of the National Security Adviser.

The government has threatened to shut off some services offered by BlackBerry-maker, Research in Motion, in a campaign driven by fears that unmonitored communication puts the country's security at risk. RIM says it is confident there will be no ban on its services.