Cyberattacks by the Pakistan group “Internet of Khilafah” targeted four Indian defence-related websites but were swiftly thwarted without compromising sensitive networks. The attacks aimed to disrupt services and steal data amid rising tensions post the Pahalgam terror attack.

There have been reports of cyberattacks on the websites of four armed forces-related organisations amid the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. According to government authorities, Pakistan was the source of the cyberattacks.

Four related incidents, including cyberattacks on the websites of the Army Public School in Srinagar and Ranikhet that targeted both sites with inflammatory propaganda and a distributed denial of service attack against the Srinagar school, were confirmed by intelligence assessments, according to Army sources. They might create distributed denial of service and vandalize the homepage. However, the web management promptly fixed it, according to a source.

According to the source, there was also an attempt to penetrate the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation webpage and a breach of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation database. “No operational or secret networks were impacted at any point; all four locations were quickly isolated, and restorative action was performed. The source claims that efforts by cyber actors with their headquarters located in Pakistan to violate Indian cyber sovereignty have once again failed.

The source noted that after mission-critical national networks were determined to be impregnable, these attacks on publicly accessible welfare and educational websites seemed to have been executed.

According to intelligence assessments, the attacks were carried out by a group known as the “Internet of Khilafah” or “IOK Hacker,” and its goals were to capture personal information, disrupt online services, and deface websites. The source claimed that these attempts demonstrated the adversary’s capabilities as well as its intent, noting that “India’s layered cyber-security architecture detected the intrusions in real time and quickly traced their origin to Pakistan.”

Even as Pakistan continues to redeploy troops and heavy military equipment along the border, firing by small arms along the Line of Control (Loc) has been reported over the past five days, adding to the tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025. Furthermore, social media has also seen a surge in tensions and propaganda.