After pro-Russian hackers, Indian sympathizers attack Canada’s web infrastructure. On the social media Telegram, a user who identifies himself as the “Indian Cyber Force” claims a cyberattack on the Canadian Armed Forces site, which was down at midday on Wednesday.
Like the attacks by a pro-Russian group against Canadian sites that have occurred in recent months, the hack has all the appearances of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. And it also occurs in a context of hostility between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Relations between the two capitals have deteriorated dramatically since September 18, when Justin Trudeau cited reports that India may be behind the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia.
On Tuesday, the same user claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on several Canadian companies and organizations, including the Ottawa Hospital. The establishment confirmed to Montreal Journal having suffered a “brief interruption” of its online services.
DDoS attacks overwhelm the targeted website with requests to knock it out of action.
On his Telegram page, the user announces that “the Canadian Air Force site has been taken down”, but he actually refers to the army site. The message is accompanied by a mention of the duration “two hours”, and a hashtag: “#Fuckcanada”.
SCREENSHOT TAKEN FROM TELEGRAM
The message from Telegram user “Indian Cyber Force”
This is the latest message from this Telegram user, who has been publishing hostile messages in Canada for several days. “Prepare to feel the power of the attacks that the IndianCyberForce will deploy in cyberspace in the next three days for the mess you have created,” he wrote on September 21.
Given the international tensions Canada is currently experiencing, the country must prepare for other similar cyberattacks, says Brett Callow, threat analyst at antivirus firm Emsisoft. “DDoS attacks are very easy to carry out, inexpensive, very visible, which makes them very popular with activists who are, in some cases, state-sponsored hackers. »
On its page, the group also claims attacks against organizations in other states that have had friction with India, such as neighboring Bangladesh.
Pro-India join pro-Russia
Same type of attack, same platform to claim them: the operations of the “Indian Cyber Force” are almost similar to those of the Russian-speaking Telegram user NoName057.
Since the spring, this group has regularly claimed DDoS attacks on sites of the federal government, provinces, territories and Canadian companies.
Justin Trudeau’s site, Hydro-Québec and several Quebec ministries in particular have paid the price, in the wake of the Ukrainian Prime Minister’s visit to Canada in April and a speech by Trudeau on the Russian invasion, at the Summit of G20 in India, two weeks ago.