Cyber-attack: Indian hacker defaces LHC site

Claims he acted in response to Bilawal’s statement on Kashmir

LAHORE: The official website of the Lahore High Court (LHC) was hacked on Tuesday reportedly by an Indian hacker in response to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statements on the Kashmir dispute. The cyber-attack follows a similar defacement of the PPP’s official webpage last week.

An image of the Indian flag was posted on the LHC website, as well as a picture of Bilawal in the hands of an Indian soldier. A photograph of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laughing also featured on the site.

The hacker, who belongs to a group calling itself ‘Sahoo’, warned Bilawal against making statements on Kashmir, saying, “Or else you [Bilawal] would be responsible for such high-profile hacks.”

“Kashmir belongs to India and no one can separate it from us,” the hackers’ message continued. Messages from Bilawal’s Twitter account were also included on the LHC site.

The latest cyber-attack came two days after Bilawal said in a speech at an event in Karachi that the UN must hold a referendum to decide the fate of Kashmir where people continue to await the realisation of a promise the world made to them over six decades ago.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.