The official website of Pakistan’s Supreme Court has been restored after a cyber attack on Tuesday, with IT specialists working for the government able to restore it after a brief period. The attackers, whose origin is unknown, posted a message on the website saying “our spring sale has started.”
Following the recovery of the website, a COVID-19-related advisory was posted, recommending that only concerned individuals should visit the court.
The duration of the disruption and whether any data was stolen are unclear.
This attack is not the first notable cyber attack in Pakistan, as earlier this month, online shopping website Naheed was breached by hackers who shared the stolen data on the dark web. The hackers claimed to have stolen up to 23,000 user records, including user ID, email, names, addresses, payment details, phone numbers, and more.
Naheed revealed that the breach occurred after a developer’s laptop was compromised through a phishing attack, and that the attackers had gained access to “non-critical test data” on one of their staging servers.
While the Pakistani government has not yet released a statement on the attack, cybersecurity experts stress the importance of strengthening security measures for critical infrastructure such as court websites.
Cyber attacks can have far-reaching consequences, and while the Pakistani government was able to recover the website relatively quickly, it underscores the need for stronger security measures to be put in place.
The potential for data theft and disruption of important services highlights the importance of maintaining vigilance and taking appropriate action in response to cyber threats.
