Pakistan hacker targets website of Revenue Service officers

Sources in the Indian Revenue Service told DT Next that crucial data pertaining to the Regional Economic Intelligence Committee (REIC), which coordinates with various government departments to trap fake currency smuggling from Pakistan to India, is feared lost due to the hacking. 

Access to the site requires a login. “An official can only access the site by entering their civil code number and a password. The hacker was able to track every action of the department and take out data. The site is very crucial for maintaining instant communication and exchange of sensitive data,” an official said. 

The hacker, who identified himself as Faisal 1337, has posted slogans like ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, ‘We are team Pakistan cyber attacker’, ‘Go home Kiddo India kids hacker’ and ‘feel the power of Pakistan’, on the home page of the site. Sub-sections of the website, like ‘Chairman’s message’ and ‘In focus’, which give priority instructions had been distorted and replaced by junk. The hacker could have also collected personal details and particulars of immovable properties of officers listed on the site.

According to J Prasanna, an ethical hacker who works with a number of banks and government organisations, “The hacker would have exploited the security vulnerability of the site, using applications widely available, and would have exploited one of them to get access. He could then easily run an SQL map (this is an open source penetration testing tool) and access the data stored on the site.” 

There are several criminal rackets in the cyber world that hack such classified data and sell it. “We wait till something of this nature happens and then panic. We need to be very sure about the security of our online data,” he added.