China’s cyber warfare tactics against various countries that it considers as adversaries are nothing new. Various countries have accused China of cyber attacks and stealing sensitive information, data theft, stealing money etc. Not only the individual hackers but the Chinese Government itself have been accused of this crime.
Pakistan, another neighbouring country of India, which is known for its ways to create troubles for India by infiltrating terrorists, spreading forged currencies etc; has now taken another route to create trouble. Cyber warfare. And in this, Pakistan has reportedly got its all-weather friend China as an ally.
Researchers at Seqrite, Quick Heal’s enterprise security company have reported to the Indian Government that Pakistani hackers are routing a cyber attack on India aiming to steal critical data. As the researchers also claim, these hackers are aided by China and targeting key personnel of Indian Defence forces.
Transparent Tribe, a suspected Pakistan-based hacker group is reportedly behind a cyber attack campaign, which is dubbed as ‘Operation Sidecopy’. This campaign is reportedly a coordinated attempt to steal critical data related to infrastructure and strategies. The hackers are trying the steal data by sending phishing emails, using remote malware.
Increasing cyber attacks
Since the geopolitical conflict between India and China in May 2020 in Galwan Valley between the Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army (PLA), there has been a significant rise in cyber attacks in recent times, with China targeting key sectors for data. Also, cyber attackers are using mass cyber surveillance to infiltrate public narratives in India.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) faced a ransomware attack in July 2020, which led to critical server data loss for the agency. It was traced back to Hong Kong and thought that masterminded by China-backed hackers.
Despite Pakistan’s malicious campaign of cyber attacks, it is not clear yet if these attacks have already caused the loss of significant data for India, and how the threat is being curtailed.
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