Cyber Incident Victim: Board of Control for Cricket in India
Date:
Jan 2014
Location:
India
Summary
The official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India was defaced by a Bangladeshi hacker displaying a message opposing perceived threats to smaller cricketing nations, accompanied by an image of the Bangladesh national team and flag. The attack followed protests against a proposed ICC governance restructuring that would concentrate power among three major cricket boards, including the Indian cricket board, prompting objections from Bangladesh's cricket authority. The defacement caused the site to be taken offline entirely, displaying only an under-maintenance notice, coinciding with critical discussions on the controversial proposal requiring international approval.
| 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 January 26, 2014, coinciding with India’s 65th Republic Day, the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), BCCI.TV, was defaced by a Bangladeshi hacker identifying as Ashik Iqbal Chy. The attacker compromised the site’s "About Us" page, replacing its content with the message "Don'T MesS UP WitH TiGeRs!" alongside an image of the Bangladesh national cricket team running with the Bangladeshi flag. The defacement occurred late at night, and the BCCI responded by shutting down the website entirely, leaving the homepage displaying an "under maintenance" message at the time of reporting. No other pages or subdomains were confirmed as compromised in the article, though all active links on the homepage became inaccessible. The attack was publicly visible, requiring no specialized access to view the defaced content before the takedown.
The incident was widely interpreted as a reaction to a controversial ICC draft proposal that would consolidate control of global cricket under the BCCI, Cricket Australia, and the England and Wales Cricket Board, marginalizing smaller cricketing nations like Bangladesh. The proposal, slated for discussion at an ICC executive board meeting on January 28–29, 2014, required approval from seven of the ten full ICC members to pass. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had publicly opposed the plan, and protests had erupted in Bangladesh prior to the hack. The defacement’s timing—days before the ICC vote—and its nationalist symbolism directly linked the attack to this geopolitical dispute. The BCCI’s decision to take the site offline entirely indicated a containment response prioritizing availability over partial functionality. No technical details about the attack vector, duration of downtime, or data compromise were disclosed in the source material. The article noted concerns about potential follow-up attacks from other nations opposed to the ICC restructuring but provided no evidence of subsequent incidents.