M'sian Hackers Attack 200 Websites In India Following Politicians' Insult Against Prophet
It is understood that hackers from Indonesia have also joined the movement to threaten India's cybersecurity.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 15 Jun 2022, 01:13 PM
A group of Malaysian hackers launched a series of cyberattacks targeting India's government websites after politicians from its ruling party made a controversial remark against Prophet Muhammad
According to New Straits Times, about 70 government websites and private portals in the country were down following the attack on Sunday, 12 June.
The affected websites include the Indian embassy in Israel, India's National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management and the Institute of Science, and the e-portal of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, among others, reported Times of India.
In the state of Maharashtra alone — the third most populous state in India — more than 50 websites were defaced.
The group calls itself DragonForce Malaysia and has a Twitter account. In a tweet last night, 14 June, it is understood that the group has even compromised the websites of the Thane police department and a university in New Delhi.
US media CNBC TV18 quoted researchers from a cybersecurity and machine intelligence company in India as saying that DragonForce Malaysia has hacked over 200 websites, including those with Government of India domains.
A check by SAYS on one of the compromised websites found that the "#OpPatuk" hacking operation is a "property of Malaysia"
"Greetings, the government of India. We are DragonForce Malaysia," read a message on the hacked website.
"This is an urgent call for all Muslim hackers, all hackers all over the world, human rights organisations, and activists all around the world to unite again and start [a] campaign against India, share what is really going on there, expose their terrorist [and] criminal war activity to the world."
"We will never remain silent against India terrorist, criminal war activity."
"You can burn [down] our mosques and our homes and our schools, but our spirit will never die!"
"This is a special operation on the insult of our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W."
DragonForce Malaysia seems to have attracted warnings from "Indian Secular Cyber Security Group" on Twitter, claiming that they know how to hack as well but have resorted not to do so due to ethical reasons.
"Take your steps backward, otherwise this is going to [be] very harmful for you," read a tweet causing the public spat.
Other than the attacks conducted by the said Malaysian group, it is understood that some websites were also hacked by people from Indonesia
CNBC TV18 reported that over 500 websites in India have been hacked.
When asked who was responsible for the attacks, Maharashtra Cyber Cell ADG Madhukar Pandey said, "The names of two countries — Malaysia and Indonesia — are surfacing. We've not got any information about whether this gang is operating in India or not."
The hackers are said to be demanding India apologise to Muslims.
The series of furious cyberattacks come after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma made an offensive remark against Prophet Muhammad during a televised debate last month, reported BBC.
BJP is one of the two major political parties in India, which came into power in 2014 along with the Indian National Congress.
The party's media head in the Delhi unit, Naveen Jindal, also posted a provocative tweet on the issue.
The duo has since been removed from the party, but their statements have caused a diplomatic nightmare for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.
Many media chose not to repeat the remark that Nupur made due to its offensive nature. However, it is understood that clips of her making the statement have gone viral on the Internet, even attracting the attention of extremist group Al-Qaeda.
