| We all are aware of the wars India and | | | | government pakgov.org. Later, it was revealed |
| Pakistan have fought and the resulted | | | | that the actual site of Pakistani government |
| destruction especially precious human lives. | | | | is pak.gov.pk, not pakgov.org and pakgov.org |
| In the current information age, some battles | | | | was in fact registered by the alleged hacker |
| are not only fought with guns and tanks but | | | | himself with fake information. |
| also through media, internet and pen. Since | | | | |
| the advent of Information Technology among | | | | On the Indian side, there are various hackers |
| the masses of South Asia in mid 1990s, the | | | | groups that have defaced Pakistani sites. |
| pace of cyber wars between Pakistan and India | | | | Among them, the most famous one is H2O or the |
| have also been increased. | | | | Hindustan Hackers Organization. However, the |
| | | | independent as well as Indian analysts admit |
| Cyberwars between the two countries started | | | | that at this cyber-front, Pakistan has always |
| in May 1998, when India conducted its nuclear | | | | been winning this war. There are two main |
| tests. Soon after India officially announced | | | | reasons for this. Firstly, Pakistani hackers |
| the test, a group of Pakistan-based hackers | | | | are organized in groups where as most of the |
| called milw0rm broke into the Bhabha Atomic | | | | Indian hackers are working as solo. Secondly |
| Research Center web site and posted | | | | and the most important reason is the |
| anti-India and anti-nuclear messages. The | | | | religious motivation of the hackers based in |
| cyberwars usually have been limited to | | | | Pakistan, to do something for the cause of |
| defacements of each others' sites. Defacement | | | | Muslim brothers & sisters in Palestine and |
| is a low level damage, in which only the home | | | | Kashmir. |
| page of a site is replaced with hacker's own | | | | |
| page, usually with some message for the | | | | At the government level, both the countries |
| victim. Such defacements started in May 1998 | | | | are doing their best to curb hacktivism. NIC |
| and continued during Kargil War in 1999 and | | | | (National Informatics Centre) of India and |
| then during that era when the tension between | | | | Cybercrime division of FIA (Federal |
| India and Pakistan was at its peak from Dec | | | | Investigation Authority) in Pakistan are |
| 2001 to 2002. Therefore, the period between | | | | taking necessary steps to eliminate all forms |
| 1999 to 2002 was very crucial, when the | | | | of cybercrime, including hacking. |
| troops were busy across the LOC exchanging | | | | |
| gunshots and the hackers busy in defacing | | | | A few of the Indian sites defaced by |
| sites of each others. | | | | Pakistani hackers are: |
| | | | |
| According to attrition.org, a web site that | | | | 1. Indian Science Congress |
| tracks computer security related developments | | | | |
| on the Internet, show that attacks on Indian | | | | 2. National Informatics Centre |
| websites increased from 4 in 1999 to 72 in | | | | |
| 2000 where as the Pakistani websites were | | | | 3. Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (State-run |
| hacked 7 times in 1999 and 18 times in 2000. | | | | international voice carrier) |
| During the first half of 2001, 150 Indian | | | | |
| websites were defaced. | | | | 4. External Affairs Mnistry |
| | | | |
| During Kargil war, the first Indian site | | | | 5. UP government site |
| reported to be hacked was established by the | | | | |
| Indian government to provide factual | | | | 6. Ministry of Information Technology |
| information about daily events in the Kashmir | | | | |
| Valley. The hackers posted photographs | | | | 7. Mahindra & Mahindra |
| showing Indian military forces allegedly | | | | |
| killing Kashmiri militants. The pictures | | | | 8. Rediff Chat |
| sported captions like 'Massacre,' Torture,' | | | | |
| 'Extrajudicial execution' and 'The agony of | | | | 9. Asian Age newspaper |
| crackdown' and blamed the Indian government | | | | |
| for its alleged atrocities in Kashmir. That | | | | 10. Aptech India |
| was followed by defacement of numerous Indian | | | | |
| governmental sites and reciprocal attacks on | | | | 11. University of Mumbai |
| Pakistani sites. | | | | |
| | | | 12. Official site of Gujarat Government |
| Two prominent Pakistani hacker groups are PHC | | | | |
| (Pakistan Hackers Club) and G-Force. The | | | | 13. GlaxoWellcome India |
| founder of PHC is Dr. Nuker. The US | | | | |
| Department of Justice has identified "Doctor | | | | 14. The Parliament home page |
| Nuker" as Misbah Khan of Karachi. Misbah Khan | | | | |
| was involved in defacement of the official | | | | 15. 16. Department of Electronics |
| site of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs | | | | |
| Committee). Doctor Nuker struck back with an | | | | 17. Engineering Export Promotion Council, |
| interview to a magazine Newsbytes where he | | | | Ministry of Commerce |
| claimed that the 'federal grand jury made a | | | | |
| mistake in indicting Misbah Khan of Karachi' | | | | 18. Center for Advanced Technology |
| and that 'he merely uses insecure servers in | | | | |
| Pakistan to get online anonymously'. Doctor | | | | A few of the Pakistani sites defaced by |
| Nuker has been featured in international | | | | Indian hackers are: |
| publications including Time and Newsweek. | | | | |
| | | | 1. The Nation (newspaper) |
| G-Force is based in Lahore and it consists of | | | | |
| eight members. Both Pakistan Hackers Club and | | | | 2. Pakistan Television |
| G-Force are professional hackers with a | | | | |
| specific aim: to work for the cause of | | | | 3. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation |
| Kashmir and Palestine. It is still to be seen | | | | |
| how their hackings are helping the cause of | | | | 4. Official site of Punjab Government |
| Palestine or Kashmir! Pakistan Hackers Club | | | | |
| has been around since quite long and apart | | | | 5. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of |
| from Indian site, they have defaced many USA | | | | Science and Technology |
| and Israeli sites including US Department of | | | | |
| Energy's site. G-Force was founded in May | | | | 6. Prime bank |
| 1999 after the nuclear tests and their | | | | |
| initial target was Indian sites but after 9 | | | | 7. Hamdard University |
| 11, their concentration has been shifted to | | | | |
| US-based sites. According to zone-h.org, | | | | If fighting with our neighbours is in our |
| G-Force has successfully defaced 212 sites. | | | | genes, we can fight through the internet, |
| G-Force's "achievements" includes National | | | | media, newspapers and books but let us not |
| Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and three | | | | fight with guns and missiles. There may be |
| military sites associated with the US Defence | | | | humiliation if a website is defaced but at |
| Test and Evaluation Professional Institute. | | | | least no human life is lost. |
| | | | |
| During this cyberwar, in December 2000, a | | | | Please visit India-Pakistan Friendship Club |
| news story created waves that claimed that an | | | | (IPFC) to access more articles related to |
| Indian hacker's group "Patriotic Indians" has | | | | India and Pakistan. |
| defaced the official site of Pakistani | | | | |