Indian intelligence agencies have issued alerts to Sainik Schools—particularly in Srinagar and Ranikhet—about potential cyber attacks from Pakistan, following the foiling of four such attempts in the past 24 hours. The schools have cautioned parents against sharing sensitive information or responding to suspicious calls or messages online, which are being seen as desperate attempts by Pakistani operatives to access military-related data through school websites and communication platforms.
The intelligence agencies identified and neutralized renewed cyber attack attempts by two Pakistan-based hacker groups—“IOK Hacker” and “Internet of Khilafah”—targeting defence institutions, especially schools and training centres.
“A cyber attack on the websites of Army Public Schools in Srinagar and Ranikhet involved inflammatory propaganda posts, which were identified and swiftly removed,” said a senior defence official. He added that another school in Srinagar also faced a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. The Indian Army's cybersecurity cell, equipped with real-time monitoring systems and a robust digital firewall, intercepted all intrusion attempts.
Additionally, an attempted breach of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation database was detected, alongside an effort to compromise the Indian Air Force Placement Organisation's online portal. All digital footprints of these cyber attacks were traced back to Pakistan-based cyber cells believed to be under the control of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
All cyber intrusions were swiftly contained, and no damage was reported to any sensitive or operational networks during this period.
