Cyber Incident Victim: Zameen.com
Date:
May 2016
Location:
Pakistan
Summary
A major Pakistani real estate platform suffered a significant breach when a Bangladeshi hacker known as Tiger Mate defaced its website and leaked the entire user database. The compromised data included usernames, email addresses, MD5-encrypted passwords, personal phone numbers, and other sensitive details of registered users. The attacker claimed to have previously warned the company about security vulnerabilities but proceeded with the hack after receiving no response, later attempting to delete the leaked data despite potential prior downloads by third parties. The incident highlighted critical security failures at the targeted organization, which ranks among Pakistan's most visited websites, connecting property dealers and buyers nationwide.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On or around May 28, 2016, Pakistani real estate platform Zameen.com suffered a breach by a Bangladeshi hacker using the alias Tiger Mate. The attacker defaced the website, leaving a message stating "hacked by Tiger Mate" along with his Twitter handle and a download link to the site’s entire source code and user database. The leaked database contained registered users’ usernames, email addresses, MD5-encrypted passwords, personal phone numbers, and other related personal details. Tiger Mate publicly disclosed the breach, claiming no political motivation but asserting he had previously warned Zameen.com about inadequate security measures that were ignored, compelling him to act. As proof, he provided a mirror link to the defacement on Zone-h.org (ID 26317809). Despite the breach, Zameen.com remained online during the incident’s initial reporting phase.
The hacker stated his intent to delete the leaked data to avoid harming users but acknowledged the information might have already been downloaded by third parties. Zameen.com, ranked as Pakistan’s 77th most visited website at the time, served as a critical platform connecting real estate professionals with buyers, sellers, and renters, hosting property listings, a blog, news section, and forum. The exposure of sensitive personal data posed significant risks to user privacy and security, particularly given the inclusion of weakly protected MD5-hashed passwords. Media outlets contacted Zameen.com for comment, but no official response from the company was included in the initial report. The incident highlighted operational security failures and the consequences of unaddressed vulnerabilities in a high-traffic commercial platform.