Pakistan-based actors' bid to violate India’s cyberspace foiled; 'IOK Hacker' tries to deface pages, steal personal data

Once again, Pakistan has reportedly failed in its latest attempt to violate India’s cyberspace and target publicly accessible websites.

After finding mission-critical national networks impenetrable, Pakistan-based cyber actors have redirected their efforts towards welfare and educational websites.

Operating under the moniker "IOK Hacker" - Internet of Khilafah, the group tried to deface pages, disrupt online services and harvest personal data.

But India's layered cyber security architecture detected the intrusions in real time and quickly traced their origin to Pakistan.

According to news agency ANI citing sources, intelligence assessments have confirmed four related incidents. The websites of Army Public School (APS) Srinagar and APS Ranikhet were both targeted with inflammatory propaganda.

APS Srinagar also faced a distributed-denial-of-service assault.

An attempted breach of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) database was likewise detected, while a concurrent effort was made to compromise the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation portal. All four sites were promptly isolated, and restorative action was undertaken; no operational or classified networks were affected at any stage, the ANI report said.

The cyber attacks from Pakistani groups increased in recent days after 26 tourists were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

Indian Army retaliates to ‘unprovoked’ firing by Pakistan along LoC

Indian Army has effectively responded to the Pakistan Army's unprovoked small arms firing across the Line of Control (LoC) on the night of April 28-29 in areas opposite Kupwara and Baramulla districts as well as in the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian troops responded swiftly and effectively to the unprovoked small arms firing by the Pakistan Army, said the Indian Army.

This is the fifth consecutive day of India's effective retaliation since the Pakistan Army's unprovoked firing on the night of 25-26.

Meanwhile, security forces have intensified anti-terror operations in the Kashmir valley in the aftermath of the Phalgam terror attack.

On Monday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir Police carried out raids at 13 locations in the Doda district to bust terrorist hideouts and take action against individuals linked to terror activities.