THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 30 websites of various government agencies, including Kochi Metro, have been hacked. Prima facie, it was suspected to be done by a group linked with Pakistan.
The other hacked websites included that of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Hantex and Hill Area Development Agency, hosted by the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology.
No websites of major government departments that are hosted on the state government’s two data centres were hacked, according to IT department sources.
C-DIT registrar S.A. Shajahan said that steps were already on to restore the sites. The hackers posted the image of a man wearing a hood and a message, “Just Support My Bro Hacked By S@NT3T3, Pakistan Zindabad IVORIAN.HAXOR@hotmail.com.”
C-DIT sources said that the hacked sites were hosted on a server in Hyderabad. “We are reviewing the security and restoring the sites. The hackers could not be traced yet. None of the sites had e-commerce facilities and no tampering of data could be detected,” said Mr. G. Ganapathy, head of department, streaming services, of C-DIT.
Meanwhile, some of the government agencies, including Kochi Metro authorities, have lodged complaints with the police cyber cell on the matter.
