Key Indian websites shut down briefly after cyber attack

Following suspicious and unwanted activity on websites of key Indian government organisations, including that of an advisor to the prime minister and the defence establishment DRDO, the websites were shut down briefly yesterday. The websites, maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), were victims of cyber attacks believed to have been carried out by group called SanFour25. The group victimised five other Indian websites and defaced them.

The websites were restored after they were checked. Sources, however, maintain that the websites in question did not contain any secrets, and that all the information was already in the public domain. Among compromised sites were those of the prime minister's advisor on public information, infrastructure and innovations (http://iii.gov.in), and the Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (www.rac.gov.in). The RAC handles scientists' recruitment for the DRDO.

-->