Online (in)security: FATA Secretariat website hacked in ‘protest’

Pakistani hackers leave messages for officials to reply to ‘Indian aggression’.

PESHAWAR:

The FATA Secretariat’s website was hacked in ‘protest of Indian aggression across the Line of Control (LoC)’.

Pakistani authorities on Sunday accused the Indian army of cross-border shelling that killed two women and wounded seven other civilians. This was the sixth death reported on the Pakistani side since five Indian soldiers were ambushed and killed on August 5.

Hours after the website was hacked it said “maintenance work is in progress” due to which data on the site could not be accessed.

A group of Pakistani hackers, who called themselves ‘Haxor Crew’ claimed responsibility of the action and issued a notice on the website page which said: “The website has been hacked to protest against Indian aggression and atrocities in Kashmir.”

The Haxor Crew also left several other messages like ‘Islam Zindabad’, ‘Long live Muslims’ and ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ on the site’s
main page.

They criticised the Secretariat for their insufficient security of the website.

One of the messages said: “Where is your security? Please, for God’s sake secure it.”

An official from the FATA Secretariat said the authorities have not used the website for the last two days because they were closed for the weekend.

“We will carry out an inquiry to trace how the website was hacked. Complete investigation will be conducted and strong action will be taken against those behind the incident,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2013.