CBI registers case against hacking of website

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today registered a case against unknown persons for hacking and defacement of its official website by people who identified themselves as ‘Pakistani Cyber Army’.

CBI registered the case under various sections of Information Technology Act and said efforts were underway to restore the website for public interface at the earliest, an official spokesperson said here.

In a brief statement, the spokesperson said, "It has come to the notice of CBI that its official website was unauthorisedly accessed and defaced in the intervening night of December 3 and 4".

"A case has been registered in this connection in the cyber crime cell of CBI and efforts are underway to restore the website with the help of National Informatics Centre and the CBI cyber security experts," the spokesperson said. The home page of CBI website was hacked and it had a message from the 'Pakistani Cyber Army' warning the 'Indian Cyber Army' that their websites should not be attacked.

The hackers infiltrated into the CBI website, supposed to be one of the most secure websites. CBI is connected to the command centre of world police organisation — Interpol — 24x7.

The message from the hackers also spoke about the filtering controls provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a body which mans computer servers across the country. Intelligence agencies have been often warning the government that proper cyber security was not being ensured in offices and that no security audit was being carried out.

The 'Pakistani Cyber Army' also threatened to carry out ‘mass defacement’ of other websites.

The cases were registered under Section 43 and 66 of the IT Act, the spokesperson said.

According to the Section 43 of the Act, a person charged for tampering with or manipulating any computer, computer system or compute network he shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding Rs 1crore to the person (or firm) so affected.

Section 66 says, "Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine, which may extend up to Rs 2 lakh, or with both."

A Pakistani media report said besides the CBI website, portals of colleges, NGOs and Indian companies have also been hacked to the route.