Cyber Incident Victim: Haryana State Pollution Control Board
Date:
Feb 2025
Location:
India
Summary
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board's website became inaccessible for four days, severely disrupting operations and halting processing of environmental permits and certificates. Officials suspect a possible cyber attack but are awaiting confirmation, having filed a complaint with the cyber cell while engaging the National Informatics Centre for resolution. The outage prevented issuance of critical approvals like consent to establish, operate, and no-objection certificates, risking financial losses for businesses and potentially enabling unauthorized industrial activities due to lapsed authorizations for pollution-related operations and waste management.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 0 motives | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board's official website (hrocmms.nic.in) became inaccessible on Thursday evening, February 16, 2025, displaying an "Unknown (IO error)" message stating the destination was unreachable. This outage persisted for four consecutive days, severely disrupting the agency's operations by preventing online processing of critical environmental documents including Consent to Establish (CTE), Consent to Operate (CTO), No-Objection Certificates (NOCs), and other regulatory approvals. HSPCB officials reported the incident to the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the government's ICT infrastructure provider under MeitY, for technical assistance. By Sunday, February 19, the board filed a formal complaint with Haryana Police's cyber cell, though no FIR had been registered at the time of reporting. Authorities publicly acknowledged uncertainty regarding the root cause, stating they could not definitively confirm whether the disruption resulted from a cyber attack or technical malfunction. Member Secretary Pradeep Kumar indicated expectations for resolution clarity by Monday, February 20, while the board prioritized service restoration and future disruption prevention measures.
The prolonged website outage paralyzed approximately 90% of HSPCB's workflow, halting all digital authorization processes essential for industrial and commercial activities across the state. Industries requiring pollution-related permits faced potential financial losses due to delayed approvals, with authorities warning that prolonged certification delays could incentivize illegal operations by businesses unable to obtain timely renewals. The disruption specifically impacted issuance of NOCs for pollution-intensive sectors like construction, mining, and development projects, alongside authorizations for hazardous waste management encompassing biomedical and electronic waste disposal. No data breaches or system compromises were confirmed in available reports, with incident scope limited to service unavailability. Restoration timelines remained unspecified beyond ongoing NIC-assisted recovery efforts, though operational impacts were immediate and comprehensive given the board's near-total reliance on the affected portal for regulatory functions.