Probe launched into major cyber attack
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army has announced a probe ater intelligence agencies uncovered a major cyber atack by Indian spy networks targeting military and government officials.
“Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have identified a major cyber atack by Indian intelligence agencies involving a range of cybercrimes, including deceiful fabrication by hacking personal mobiles and technical gadgets of government officials and military personnel,” the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
No further detail about the nature of the atack or targets was given by the military.
The ISPR said the targets of the atack were being investigated. Action, the military’s media affairs wing said, was also being taken against those found guilty of violating the official standard operating procedures (SOPS) on cyber security.
The Islamabad Policy Institute, a think tank, had in its report, “Pakistan Outlook 2020” earlier this year warned that a spike in India’s Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) activity was being noticed since the increase in its tensions with Pakistan following the Balakot stand-off.
APT is defined as a long-term intrusion normally by a state-sponsored actor into network/s in order to mine highly sensitive data. APT activity, the report said, was deeply connected with geo-political situation, current events and government priorities. “With a right-wing fascist regime in power in India, such campaigns have increased and are more likely,” it added.
The report had also pointed out that Pakistan was one of the worst prepared countries in the world with regards to cybercrime.
Farooq Naiyer, a cyber security expert and a visiting fellow with the Islamabad Policy Institute, had in his paper said that the motive behind APT was usually intelligence gathering and credential thet for follow-on operations. He said that the adversaries targeting Pakistan specifically went ater government officials, diplomats and businessmen. APT groups, he wrote, mostly used simple, freely available malware that heavily relied on phishing campaigns.
Naiyer said that although not much had so far been known about the atack reported by the military, it looked very much similar to a Russian surveillance atack in May last year in which the atackers exploited a vulnerability in Whatsapp, the encrypted messaging service, to target important political figures.