Indo Pak Hacker war hype?
By Shalini Singh

On Aug 15, 2010, hackers took over the website of high profile Indian businessman, politician and IPL team owner, Vijay Mallya.  The hackers posted pro Pakistani messages and signed off as Pakistan Cyber Army.  At least half a dozen national Indian media interviewed Vijay Mallya about his site being hacked.  Vijay loves the media and they love him back.

On Aug 16, Techgoss had published an article speculating whether the long standing cyber cease fire between organized Indian and Pakistani hacker groups had broken down and if we were witnessing an organized hacking war again.

Vijay Mallya later tweeted that his computing team had ‘un-hacked’ his website.  Vijay also said that they had traced the hacker to Lahore. (Image at top).

Now, one of Pakistan’s most respected tech and telecom blog ProPakistani has published an article which has convincing evidence that the hacking of Vijay Mallya’s site was the handiwork of a single hacker rather than the work of cyber group Pakistan Cyber Army (PCA)

“
Hacking into any site is a serious crime. This was rather strange news as Pakistan Cyber Army (PCA) usually does not get its hands dirty with such acts. We have seen in past that PCA comes into action only in case of severe instances. Moreover, message left on defaced website page is apparently not from PCA.
“

The Pakistan hacker scene, like its counterpart in India, is a close knit community with many people knowing each other.  The comments at the end of the article are speculating on the identity of the sole Pakistani hacker.

It seems that the peace treaty between Pakistani and Indian hacker groups seems to be holding for now.  But individuals across both countries may be indulging in such occasional hacking.

(Techgoss had published the following on Aug 16, 2010)

Indo Pak Hacker war?
By Shalini Singh

A few years ago, Indian and Pakistani hacker groups had launched an online war against each other.  Every day, techies from both countries used to logon and bring down or deface websites in each others countries.  By all accounts, the Indian and Pakistani Governments were not involved and this was the work of individuals and hacker groups.

Then on Nov 30, 2008 a statement was published in some blogs that the Indian and Pakistani hackers had made peace and decided not to attack each other. 

The hacker cyber peace deal held up till July, 2010 but it seems that there is a new risk of cyber war between tech savvy computer specialists from both countries.  By all accounts, this is a war between individuals and groups rather than Government sanctioned hacker attacks.

On Aug 15, 2010, the website of high profile Indian businessman, politician and IPL team owner, Vijay Mallya, was defaced by Pakistani hackers who left flags and pro Pakistan text on the compromised site. Vijay Mallya is a media natural and was soon on Times, CNN and every media house that wanted his views on his personal website being attacked.  It even made it to the prime news time.  No Indian mainstream media mentioned the fact that Pakistani sites were also attacked.

But it seems that Indian hackers have also done the same thing.  An Indian ethical hacker has compiled a list of sites hacked in both India and Pakistan over the weekend and it seems that hundreds of Pakistani sites went down.  The Pakistan attack was lead by Pak Cyber Army and PakHaxors while Indian hacker groups Indishell and Indian Cyber Army lead the attack or counter attack.

Are we witnessing the start of another hacking war between the two countries?

(Techgoss had published the following on July 13, 2010)

Indo Pak Cyber deal holds
By Shalini Singh

A few years ago, Indian and Pakistani hacker groups had launched an online war against each other.  Every day, techies from both countries used to logon and bring down or deface websites in each others countries.  By all accounts, the Indian and Pakistani Governments were not involved and this was the work of individuals and hacker groups.

Then on Nov 30, 2008 a statement was published in some blogs that the Indian and Pakistani hackers had made peace and decided not to attack each other.  In a joint statement to Chowrangi.com, PCA (Pakistan Cyber Army), Zombie_ksa (PAKbugs) and ICW (Indian Cyber Warriors and Hindu Militant Group) said they had made peace.

The cross border hacker peace treaty held well over the last few years.  Then the dynamics changed in early July, 2010 when the Pakistani Government arrested most members of the high profile Pakistani hacking group PAKbugs.  The Pakistan Government claims that they clamped down on PAKbugs due to complaints from within their own country.  Even as the Pakistan Government arrested PAKbugs, about 130 Pakistani sites were hacked.

Could Indian techies be mistakenly blamed for the hacking of 130 Pakistani sites?  No one was sure but the situation had all the ingredients of suspicion and misunderstanding and could blow up into another hacker war on the internet.

But if you needed more proof that there are many people in both Pakistan and India who want peace and good neighbourly relations, it came in the form of a statement by powerful Pakistani hacking collective PCA (Pakistan Cyber Army).  They told propakistani

“
“Message from Pakistan Cyber Army on arrest of Pakbugs Members

If anyone has doubt that we are not the one who defaced ONGC then get a life first. If people have forgotten, then we are the same guys who defaced ONGC in response to the attack on OGRA. After which we did a peace deal with the groups involved on both sides of borders including “Pakbugs” and “ICW” but kids didn’t keep their promise and got arrested.

We told PakBugs many (many, many, many) times to not to deface/destroy Pakistani websites and infrastructure. We told them to take FIA and NR3C seriously – as these agencies are not bunch of NOOBS, we had warned Pakbugs that you people don’t know about the power and the resources that NR3C has got but they gave a damn to our words and ended up in their custody.

I feel sad about the kids but… it happened due to their carelessness and childish attitude, which eventually landed them in the jail.

If you people are upcoming hackers and don’t know about Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance then go and read it on NR3C website. I fear that Pakbugs would have a jail of 7 years if they got trialed and if FIA bail them out with some punishment they should thank Allah and concentrate on their studies.

We always told Jawad (HUMZA) and other kids about the consequences that they may face if arrested. [Jawad correct me if I am wrong].

Request to FIA/NR3C

“It is our humble request to FIA (NR3C) authorities to consider the case realistically and don’t give the kids the capital punishment as they are kids and can improve if given a chance. If they get the capital punishment as mentioned in Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, then their future will be ruined. Sir, these are our kids and our force if given a direction“

Message for upcoming Hackers

Our message to upcoming hackers or people who are interested in this field is that there is nothing bad to have the knowledge of hacking or hacking techniques, what’s bad is the usage of such knowledge and skill against our own country, national and international organizations or departments – that may cause damage to our country and its repute in the world.  Don’t push your efforts to get famous. The fame will come with time.

Some of you kids out there think that organizations in the west give opportunities to the hackers. If that’s the case then you are living in a heaven of fools.

Don’t believe in such stories that hackers will have a good future. The person who has a criminal record cannot fly from the country or he can’t enter into a country legally – go and ask your elders about it.

Message for Indian Hackers

If Indian hackers think that the game is over then read our message once again “Don’t mess with Pakistan else you will lose both your Name and this Game”. If you think that “Pakbugs” got arrested and you have a chance to play then give it a second thought.

Regards,

Pakistan Zindabad,
We are still awake for our country.
Haroon aka D45H & Hamza aka r4yd3n
Pakistan Cyber Army”
“

This public statement by the Pakistan Cyber Army has gone a long way in explaining what is really happening in Pakistan. By not blaming Indian hackers for the attack on the 130 Pakistani websites, it also ensures that the peace pact between Pakistan and Indian hackers is not violated.