Rajasthan education department website hacked; attacker message alludes to 2019 Abhinandan capture

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan education department website was hacked on Tuesday with a message mocking the Indian establishment over the 2019 capture of IAF officer Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan pasted on the portal's homepage.

The hackers also post objectionable content on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack on the front page of the website. Soon after the cyber attack came to notice, Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar directed the IT wing of the department to restore the website at the earliest.

The website has been temporarily shut down for it to be restored to its original state. "The department has also informed the cyber security agencies and an investigation has been initiated to trace the group responsible for this attack and ascertain the scale of information damage," he said.

Also read Pahalgam Terror Attack: Kashmiri Muslim students terrified, go in hiding as threatening videos demand exodus

While no sensitive data leak has been confirmed yet, the entire system is being thoroughly checked, Dilawar added. Earlier in the morning, the hacked website's homepage showed the message "Fantastic Tea Club Pakistan Cyber Force" and contained objectionable content on the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

The mocking message is an attempt to remind the Indian establishment about the capture of IAF officer Abhinandan Varthaman. His MiG-21 Bison aircraft was shot down during a dogfight in late February of 2019 by Pakistanis who had breached the LoC and tried to attack military installations in Jammu and Kashmir to retaliate against India's air strike at terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan.

While Varthaman was handed over to India after a little over two days, the Pakistani military had put out a couple of videos of the IAF officer in their custody. In one of the clips, the calm and composed IAF officer was seen sipping a cup of tea and saying "Tea is fantastic" while responding to several questions, one of which was on the quality of the drink.