Cyber Incident Victim: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Date:
Mar 2023
Location:
Pakistan
Summary
The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s official website was temporarily taken over by unknown attackers who displayed a promotional message before government IT staff restored the service and posted a COVID‑19 advisory, with no confirmation of data loss or the length of the disruption. Separately, an online shopping website suffered a breach in which attackers claimed to have obtained tens of thousands of user records and order details containing personal and payment information, later attributing the intrusion to a compromised developer laptop via phishing.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On Tuesday morning, attackers of unknown origin gained control of the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s official website and displayed the message “our spring sale has started”. Social media platforms quickly filled with screenshots of the altered page. Government IT specialists restored the site after a short period, and shortly thereafter a COVID‑19 advisory limiting court visitors was posted despite low case numbers in Islamabad. The article notes that it remains unknown whether any data was exfiltrated or how long the disruption lasted before recovery.
Earlier in March 2023, the Pakistani online retailer Naheed experienced a breach in which attackers claimed to have taken up to 23,000 user records and 108 order details containing personal and payment information. Naheed confirmed that the incident began when a developer’s laptop was compromised through a phishing email, granting the intruders access to a staging server. The company described the data taken as non‑critical test information. The stolen dataset was subsequently shared on the dark web.
The Supreme Court incident follows a pattern of cyber attacks on prominent Pakistani online services, as the article notes that it is not the first time a notable website in the country has been targeted. Both events illustrate the use of website defacement and data exfiltration tactics against domestic entities. Together they highlight the recurring threat landscape faced by Pakistani government and commercial web properties.