BJP website hacked, taken offline; Congress offers help

Pic/Screengrab

Hackers broke into the website of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday and defaced it before it was taken offline. No hacking group has claimed responsibility for the breach. The BJP has not issued any official statement.

Screenshots of the site's home page, which went viral on social media, showed abusive messages and a GIF of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some of the posts were from about 11 am. Below the meme was a music video of the film "Bohemian Rhapsody". The meme poked fun at a clip in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel walks past Modi as he extends his hand.

French security researcher that goes by the name of Elliot Alderson who published Aadhaar data leaks in the past, tweeted: "The official website of @BJP4India has been hacked. I guess they stole the database too".

The website of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) went into the "maintenance" mode after an alleged hacking attempt early on Tuesday morning, with security researchers claiming the hackers may have stolen the entire database. The portal was not up till the evening and the message on the website read: "We'll be back soon! Sorry for the inconvenience but we're performing some maintenance at the moment. We will be back online shortly!"

The opposition immediately took up the issue on the social media platforms. "If you're not looking at the BJP website right now -- you're missing out," tweeted Divya Spandana, Social media head of the Congress Party. The Congress also took a jibe and posted a screenshot of the website. It said that Congress was "happy to help".

As per social media, hackers posted memes featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some trollers also went ahead and trolled the entire incident.

The website was taken offline on Tuesday. Access to the site is still restricted.

Within hours of the Pulwama attack, Pakistani-linked hackers reportedly attacked nearly 90 Indian government websites, leading India to initiate counter-offensive measures in cyberspace. In the same week, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website was not working in several countries, including the US. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal alleged that New Delhi was behind the attack.

According to a report in the Dawn, cross-border hacking attacks have been sporadic yet common since at least 1998.

Fingers were pointed to India-based hackers when the official website of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was found defaced in June 2017. In December that year, the official website of Karachi police was hacked and defaced, allegedly by Indian hackers, the report said.

Earlier, in July 2016, hackers claiming to be from Pakistan defaced the websites of seven Indian embassies, high commissions and consulates in various countries with pro-Pakistan Army slogans.

(with inputs from agencies)

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