Kerala Government websites were hacked on an unprecedented scale on Tuesday by attackers claiming allegiance to Pakistan, with access being denied to 34 websites including that of the Kochi Metro.
The cyber attack was effectively countered by 2 p.m. by the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT) with most of the sites being restored.
Some of the departments that had their websites hacked did not realise what happened and by the time they heard of the attack, the websites were restored.
G. Ganapathy, Head, Web Services of C-DIT, said the first report came from Kochi Metro authorities.
They informed that the website was hacked and the homepage displayed an image of a faceless man, wearing a striped hooded jacket and with a message that read ‘Just Support My Bro. Hacked by S@NT3T3. Pakistan Zindabad.’ with an accompanying email id that read ivorian.haxor@ hotmail.com.
Hyderabad-based server
Mr. Ganapathy said the hacker had just denied access to the sites, which were hosted on a Hyderabad-based server. A message was sent to Hyderabad, following which the server was shut down, and usernames and passwords for administrators of websites changed. Some of the websites that were hacked, Mr. Ganapathy said, included those of Kerala Ceramics, State Stationery Department, State Literacy Mission, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment, State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society., (Hantex), and State Hill Area Development Agency (HADA). Probes at various levels, including by the police, had been launched.
C-DiT restores all websites by 2 p.m.
Police start investigation
