Cyber Incident Victim: Pakistan Television
Date:
Sep 2014
Location:
Pakistan
Summary
The official website of Pakistan Television was defaced by the hacker group Pakistan Haxors Crew as part of cyber protests against the government, opposition leaders, and law enforcement agencies. The attackers condemned alleged police killings in Lahore, accused authorities of corruption, and displayed anti-government slogans including "Go Nawaz Go," while criticizing politicians for failing to fulfill electoral promises. This incident occurred amid ongoing physical protests in Islamabad and followed recent defacements of approximately 20 other government websites, though the broader impact of these cyber protests remained unclear. The hackers left messages on the compromised sports subdomain explicitly linking their actions to dissatisfaction with political leadership and institutional failures.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On September 2, 2014, hackers identifying as Pakistan Haxors Crew defaced the official website of Pakistan Television (PTV), specifically targeting its sports subdomain at http://sports.ptv.com.pk/t20/. The attack occurred amid ongoing political protests in Islamabad, where demonstrators had staged a 20-day sit-in against the government. This cyber incident followed a physical assault on PTV facilities by protestors the previous day, which had drawn widespread condemnation. The defacement mirrored a prior hack of Pakistan.gov.pk by unidentified actors and formed part of a broader wave of cyber protests targeting government digital assets, with approximately 20 lesser-known official websites compromised in the preceding 48 hours. Attackers replaced the site's content with political messages condemning both ruling and opposition politicians, prominently featuring "Go Nawaz Go" slogans directed at then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The hackers embedded specific grievances in Urdu criticizing unfulfilled political promises regarding electricity reforms and load-shedding, while also accusing Punjab Police of corruption and implicating them in the deaths of 14 individuals in Lahore two months prior. Messages explicitly denounced Geo Television alongside government entities, though no technical details of the breach method or data impact were disclosed. No remediation efforts by PTV or law enforcement were described in available reporting. The incident highlighted escalating tensions between anti-government factions and state institutions during the protests, though the article noted uncertainty regarding whether these cyber actions elicited substantive governmental response. Public reactions were limited to condemnations of the physical PTV attack, with no recorded public statements addressing the website defacement specifically.