On Wednesday, September 27, amid the ongoing disturbances between India and Canada, a group of hackers who call themselves ‘Indian Cyber Force’ hacked the official website of the Canadian Armed Forces. The website was accessible due to the cyber attack, but it was restored sometime later. Canadian news website, the Globe and Mail reported that pro-Indian hackers had disabled the website, however, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack has no official links to New Delhi.
The group of hackers who called themselves ‘Indian Cyber Force’ informed on Telegram, Twitter, and other social media accounts that the official website of the Canadian Armed Forces viz www.forces.ca website had been taken down.
The hackers claimed that the duration of the disruption on the website would last for around 2 hours. The same was confirmed by Daniel Le Bouthillier, head of media relations at the Department of National Defence in Canada. “The disruption started at about noon but was rectified later that afternoon. Some desktop users could still access the website, while most mobile devices could not,” he said.
As per the reports, the alleged cyberattack is thought to have been a “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attempt meant to send the Canadian government a message.
Notably, DDoS attacks are generally brief, lasting no longer than a few hours or days. DDoS assaults are typically used by hacking groups of online activists to bring attention to themselves rather than as a genuine means of doing harm.
The matter is being looked at by the Canadian Forces, which represent all military operations for Canada, including the navy, special command units, air, and space operations.
Notably, the group had published a message alluding to the cyber operation a week previous to the claimed hacking effort. “Get ready to feel the power of IndianCyberForce attacks will be launching on Canada cyberspace… it’s for the mess you started,” read the message.
In an unexpected assertion last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country’s intelligence agencies were looking into a “potential link” between “agents of the Indian government” and Nijjar’s death. Nijjar was referred to as a “Canadian citizen” by Trudeau.
In retaliation to Ottawa’s removal of an Indian official over the case, New Delhi clearly rejected the charges as “absurd” and “motivated,” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.
Nijjar, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, with a Rs 10 lakh cash reward on his head, was shot dead on June 18 by two unidentified shooters outside a gurudwara in Surrey. He was the Khalistan Tiger Force’s (KTF) commander.
In a strongly worded statement, India said that Canada’s claims appeared to be “politically motivated” and urged the Trudeau government to crack down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating on its soil. As a result of the diplomatic blockade over Nijjar’s murder, India has now suspended visa services for Canadians.
Recently, on Monday, September 25, the Indian Government also announced that it was in the process of canceling the registration of over a dozen Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders for carrying out pro-Khalistan activities and anti-India propaganda.
