Website of Indian Defense Ministry hacked, Chinese characters visible
The website of India's Defense Ministry was hacked today, with users being shown a message about an "unexpected error" and some Chinese characters on top of the screen. When the NewsBytes team tried opening the website at 6pm, the site couldn't be reached as it "took too long to respond." PTI quoted unnamed officials, who said they suspected China's involvement.
Ministry trying to get things back on track
"We are seized of the matter. The National Informatics Centre, which maintains the website, is trying to restore it," a spokesperson from the Defense Ministry said.
Not the first time Indian government websites have been targeted
Last year, the Home Affairs website had to be taken down after a cyber attack was reported. Before that, the official website of the National Security Guard (NSG) was broken into and anti-India messages posted, allegedly by Pakistani operatives. In 2016, details were leaked from databases of seven Indian missions (Italy, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Romania, South Africa and Switzerland).
