Brief Disruptions, Bold Claims: The Tactical Reality Behind the India-Pakistan Hacktivist Surge
Summary:
Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in hacktivist claims targeting Indian digital infrastructure, with groups boasting of over 100 successful breaches across government, education, and critical sectors in May 2025 amidst heightened geopolitical tensions. However, investigations by CloudSEK reveal that the actual impact of these alleged attacks is minimal. Claims of significant data leaks have largely amounted to the exposure of publicly available information or recycled data from old leaks. Website defacements were quickly rectified without leaving lasting digital footprints, and DDoS attacks against high-profile targets, including the Prime Minister's Office, caused negligible disruption. Notably, claims of a substantial 247 GB data breach from India's National Informatics Centre were debunked, with only 1.5 GB of publicly available media files being presented as proof. Many of these exaggerated or fabricated claims are amplified by Pakistan-linked accounts on X, such as P@kistanCyberForce and CyberLegendX, often associated with operations like Operation Sindoor and Bunyan Al Marsous.
While hacktivist activity garners attention, a more serious and covert threat is developing from the advanced persistent threat group APT36, linked to Pakistan. This group is actively conducting sophisticated phishing campaigns leveraging the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack as a lure to deliver the Crimson RAT malware, targeting Indian government and defense networks for espionage purposes. The campaign was launched within 48 hours of the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack. The malicious lures appear as either PowerPoint files or PDF documents contained within phishing emails that appear to come from credible sources. The malicious macros in the PowerPoint file download Crimson RAT, which is disguised as an image file, such as WEISTT.jpg. This disguise helps evade initial detection by security software. Once downloaded, the image file launches Crimson RAT.
Crimson RAT is a versatile Remote Access Trojan (RAT) with a robust total of 22 C2 commands. Key functionalities include:
The recent wave of hacktivist claims against Indian digital infrastructure, while generating considerable media attention, appears to be largely a campaign of exaggeration and misinformation. CloudSEK analysis indicates a significant disparity between the claimed impact and the actual damage inflicted. The majority of alleged breaches have resulted in minimal disruption, with leaked data often already being publicly accessible and website defacements quickly resolved. The amplification of these unsubstantiated claims by potentially state-sponsored social media accounts highlights a deliberate effort to create a perception of widespread vulnerability due to the conflict. While monitoring hacktivist activities remains important, cybersecurity efforts must prioritize the more insidious and genuinely threatening activities of advanced persistent threat groups like APT36. Their sophisticated and targeted campaigns, such as the recent Crimson RAT deployment leveraging sensitive geopolitical events, pose a far greater risk to national security through potential data exfiltration and system compromise. The focus should shift towards bolstering defenses against such operations, rather than being solely consumed by the often overstated claims of hacktivist groups, which in this case, appear to be overstated.
Suggested Corrections:
Organizations can make APT groups’ lives more difficult. Here’s how:
https://www.cloudsek.com/blog/brief-disruptions-bold-claims-the-tactical-reality-behind-the-india-pakistan-hacktivist-surge
Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in hacktivist claims targeting Indian digital infrastructure, with groups boasting of over 100 successful breaches across government, education, and critical sectors in May 2025 amidst heightened geopolitical tensions. However, investigations by CloudSEK reveal that the actual impact of these alleged attacks is minimal. Claims of significant data leaks have largely amounted to the exposure of publicly available information or recycled data from old leaks. Website defacements were quickly rectified without leaving lasting digital footprints, and DDoS attacks against high-profile targets, including the Prime Minister's Office, caused negligible disruption. Notably, claims of a substantial 247 GB data breach from India's National Informatics Centre were debunked, with only 1.5 GB of publicly available media files being presented as proof. Many of these exaggerated or fabricated claims are amplified by Pakistan-linked accounts on X, such as P@kistanCyberForce and CyberLegendX, often associated with operations like Operation Sindoor and Bunyan Al Marsous.
While hacktivist activity garners attention, a more serious and covert threat is developing from the advanced persistent threat group APT36, linked to Pakistan. This group is actively conducting sophisticated phishing campaigns leveraging the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack as a lure to deliver the Crimson RAT malware, targeting Indian government and defense networks for espionage purposes. The campaign was launched within 48 hours of the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack. The malicious lures appear as either PowerPoint files or PDF documents contained within phishing emails that appear to come from credible sources. The malicious macros in the PowerPoint file download Crimson RAT, which is disguised as an image file, such as WEISTT.jpg. This disguise helps evade initial detection by security software. Once downloaded, the image file launches Crimson RAT.
Crimson RAT is a versatile Remote Access Trojan (RAT) with a robust total of 22 C2 commands. Key functionalities include:
- Screenshot Capture: Commands like cscreen, scren, and thumb allow the malware to capture and exfiltrate screenshots of the victim’s screen, providing visual insights into user activities.
- File Access and Downloads: Commands such as filsz, listf, and fldr enable the malware to list, access, and download files from the infected system, targeting sensitive documents.
- System Persistence: The putsrt command ensures the malware remains active on the system even after reboots, allowing long-term access.
- Remote Command Execution: Commands like runf, dowr, and udlt allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands, download additional payloads, or delete files on the victim’s system.
The recent wave of hacktivist claims against Indian digital infrastructure, while generating considerable media attention, appears to be largely a campaign of exaggeration and misinformation. CloudSEK analysis indicates a significant disparity between the claimed impact and the actual damage inflicted. The majority of alleged breaches have resulted in minimal disruption, with leaked data often already being publicly accessible and website defacements quickly resolved. The amplification of these unsubstantiated claims by potentially state-sponsored social media accounts highlights a deliberate effort to create a perception of widespread vulnerability due to the conflict. While monitoring hacktivist activities remains important, cybersecurity efforts must prioritize the more insidious and genuinely threatening activities of advanced persistent threat groups like APT36. Their sophisticated and targeted campaigns, such as the recent Crimson RAT deployment leveraging sensitive geopolitical events, pose a far greater risk to national security through potential data exfiltration and system compromise. The focus should shift towards bolstering defenses against such operations, rather than being solely consumed by the often overstated claims of hacktivist groups, which in this case, appear to be overstated.
Suggested Corrections:
Organizations can make APT groups’ lives more difficult. Here’s how:
- Defense-in-depth strategy: A comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy is crucial to combat APTs. This includes implementing multiple layers of security controls, such as strong perimeter defenses, network segmentation, endpoint protection, intrusion detection systems, data encryption, access controls, and continuous monitoring for anomalies.
- Threat intelligence and sharing: Ideally, organizations should actively participate in threat intelligence sharing communities and collaborate with industry peers, government agencies, and security vendors. Sharing information about APTs and their techniques can help detect and mitigate attacks more effectively.
- Employee education and awareness: Regular security awareness programs, phishing simulations, and training sessions can educate employees about the latest threats, social engineering techniques, and safe computing practices.
- Incident response and recovery: Regardless of preventive measures, organizations should have a well-defined incident response plan. This includes incident detection, containment, eradication, and recovery procedures to minimize the impact of APT attacks and restore normal operations.
https://www.cloudsek.com/blog/brief-disruptions-bold-claims-the-tactical-reality-behind-the-india-pakistan-hacktivist-surge