India foils repeated Pakistan attempts to hack Army sites amid tensions

NEW DELHI: India has once again thwarted a coordinated cyber offensive by Pakistan-based hackers aimed at undermining the country’s digital sovereignty.
Intelligence sources confirmed news agency ANI that four incidents tied to the same cyber actors have been identified in recent days, signalling an uptick in attempts to target public-facing platforms after mission-critical Indian systems proved too difficult to penetrate.
The group, which calls itself "IOK Hacker" – short for Internet of Khilafah – sought to deface websites, disrupt services, and collect personal data. These activities were swiftly detected by India’s multi-layered cybersecurity defense systems, which traced the cyber intrusions back to Pakistani origins in real-time.
“IOK Hacker” has emerged as a new front for cyber disruption following Pakistan’s daily ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC), Indian officials said.
According to security assessments, inflammatory propaganda was posted during coordinated cyberattacks on the websites of Army Public School (APS) Srinagar and APS Ranikhet. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack was also launched against the APS Srinagar portal.

Additionally, the hackers attempted to breach the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) database while simultaneously trying to compromise the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation portal.
All four affected websites were immediately taken offline and subjected to restorative action, according to cyber officials. No classified or operational systems were breached, highlighting the strong defensive protocols currently in place. These cyber sabotage attempts reflect not only the adversary's intent but also their inability to make any meaningful dent in Indian defense infrastructure.
Meanwhile, tensions continue to escalate on the LoC. On the night of April 28–29, Pakistani troops engaged in unprovoked small arms firing in multiple sectors opposite Kupwara and Baramulla districts as well as the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded “swiftly and effectively” to these provocations, officials confirmed.

“This is the fifth consecutive day of India’s effective retaliation since the Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked firing on the night of April 25–26,” an Indian Army official noted. Similar firing incidents were reported on the night of April 27–28 in areas opposite Kupwara and Poonch districts.
These developments come in the wake of heightened military readiness following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which resulted in the deaths of 26 people. The Indian Army has since ramped up anti-terror operations across the Kashmir Valley.