Indian Embassy's website hacked by Chinese hackers

E-mail IDs of senior officers cloned to.com or gmail

PTI | April 19, 2010



The website of the Indian Embassy here has been attacked twice by Chinese hackers, prompting the mission to boost its cyber security.

Reliable sources in the Indian Embassy said at least two cyber attacks were traced to Chinese servers, but denied leakage of any confidential information, which is processed by "standalone" computers.

The embassy's Local Area Network (LAN) also has no direct internet access and the firewall has been fortified, they said, adding the only hacking victim was the official website, maintained by the information wing.

The website allows for online filling of visa and passport applications.

"The indianembassy.ru website in the public domain was affected to some extent that e-mail IDs of the senior officials were cloned in the .com or gmail domains to spread the malware," the sources said.

"For example for the legitimate '[email protected]', IDs like '[email protected]' and '[email protected]' were used to spread spam with malware," the sources said.

In a recent incident, the 'Daily Media Digest' issued by the Information Wing in the evening was received by its recipients, including Moscow-based Indian journalists, early morning and instead of word document, it had RAR archive arrangement.

The prompt warning circulated by the embassy not to open the attachment saved many computers from the fresh lot of malware.

The incident assumes significance in the wake of a report about alleged Chinese cyber espionage which has infected scores of Indian government and defence related sites.

US and Canada based Information Warfare Monitor and Shadowservers Foundation in their report 'Shadows in the Cloud' had traced China's Chengdu based servers of ex-filtering sensitive information from the Indian computers, including Indian diplomatic missions in Moscow, London and Washington.

Commenting on the report, Russian media had raised concerns about sensitive and secret information about Moscow and New Delhi's defence cooperation falling into the Chinese hands.

Kommersant daily had said even in the cyber age the Russian missions use well tried method of using old typewriters and a sheet of paper to guard their secret information.

 

Comments

 

Other News

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims.   There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

The Sardar biography that throws light on our times

Patel: A Life By Rajmohan Gandhi Aleph Books, 568 pages, Rs 1,199   There are many biographi

Climate change, El Niño rewrite Indian monsoon

The month of July exceeded its rainfall target despite forecasts of a below-normal month under a strengthening El Niño. The reason could be that climate change is amplifying monsoon complexity: West Pacific warming, Western Disturbances and evolving ocean conditions increasingly interact with El Ni&

Mumbai has just 1.28 sq.m. of open space per person: Study

Mumbai`s public space crisis is as much about mismanagement as it is about scarcity, and offers a governance roadmap that can be implemented without new legislation, according to a new report by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and the NGO Alliance for Governance and Renewal (NAGAR).  

Lok Sabha passes amendment bill to improve public examination system

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 by a voice vote after an extensive discussion. Replying to the debate, minister of state (independent charge) for science & technology; earth sciences and MoS in the PMO, Dr. Jite

Shri Abhijit Phukon (IES, 2004) appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

 Shri Abhijit Phukon (IES: 2004) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. His appointment, approved by the

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter