Indian websites targeted by China-based hackers

China-based hackers carried out a spate of cyber attacks on the websites of the Indian government and Tibetan activists, reveals a report by IT security firm Trend Micro. The report further reveals that these attacks were part of an organised effort and attackers succeeded in defacing 233 computers. The Luckycat cyber campaign, is being linked with 90 cyber attacks in recent past that targeted the Indian, Japanese and Tibetan activists

Baburaj Varma, Head - Technical Services (India & SAARC) Trend Micro says the attacks have been traced back to hackers based in China. He further said that the attackers targeted a number of Japanese and Indian industrial sites working in aerospace, enginery, engineering, shipping, and military research.

According to reports, the computers were attacked with malware by prompting e-mail recipients to open attachments. Trend Micro also notes the attacks have been "extremely successful" and were aimed at monitoring the targeted sites. The attackers behind Luckycat campaign were given infrastructure to organise other attacks including the ShadowNet campaign.

The government websites have continued to be targeted by the cyber attackers. Union minister Sachin Pilot recently revealed as many as 112 government websites, including those of Planning Commission, the Finance Ministry and various State government agencies, were hit by cyber attacks during a three-month period ending February 2012. DRDO in one of its reports revealed that computer servers of the government departments were attacked nearly 200 times during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.