State BJP website hacked amid India-Pakistan tensions, restored

 

 

The official Madhya Pradesh website of the BJP was hacked on Saturday, with users briefly seeing a message that the website had been hacked by a group that identified itself as ‘PFA Cyber Force.’ The hacking took place amid India-Pakistan tensions. BJP officials corroborated that multiple users who attempted to access the party’s Madhya Pradesh webpage early in the morning were presented with a message bearing the title of a presumed Pakistani operation. The message presented on the site that had been hacked read, “You have been hacked PFA Cyber Force,” with the bold inclusion of ‘Operation Bunyan-al-Marsous.’

 

Even though the site is now displaying BJP symbol and a ‘404 Not Found’ page, the site’s temporary breach has put it in spotlight with the present geopolitical situation. The BJP IT Cell had seemingly been notified of the attempted hacking in time and had started taking initiatives to restore the site. BJP State Media In-charge Ashish Agarwal attested to hacking of Madhya Pradesh website, having said, “We received information about the website getting hacked in the morning.

 

The team reacted promptly and got it up and running.” Agarwal, however, rejected reports of BJP national website being hacked. The words ‘Operation Bunyan-al-Marsous’ on the hijacked website are of particular interest. The name, which is an Arabic term, means “a strong lead wall.” The operation was well known in the past, with comments attributed to it coming from Pakistan. The use of this particular term indicates a possible connection to players on the other side of the border, though the identity of the ‘PFA Cyber Force’ is not confirmed. BJP State Organisation officials indicated that the site was back online after a period of approximately 15 to 20 minutes from the time the breach was realized. Still, the site is not accessible at the reporting time and displays an “ERROR” message when accessed.

 

This cyber incursion of BJP state online networks is at a critical juncture, and it is another complication in the already tense India-Pakistan relations. The authorities will probably probe the motive and origin of the hacking. The attack brings to light the increasing vulnerability of government and political party websites to cyberattacks, particularly in our present global scenario. It also brings to light the imperative of robust cybersecurity and the capacity to react quickly to avert the scale of such breaches. Further news on the investigation and full restoration of the BJP Madhya Pradesh website is awaited.