Bhubaneswar: The official website of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) in Odisha’s Sambalpur was targeted in a cyber attack on Wednesday evening that modified the portal’s homepage to display a series of inflammatory messages under the name of ‘Pakistan Cyber Force’.
According to sources, a large image of the Pakistan national flag flashed across the homepage at around 8 pm and critical links on the portal were disabled, preventing users from accessing key functions. Hackers also replaced content across multiple pages with pro-Pakistan messages, including slogans such as ‘ISI Zindabad’, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and ‘Pak Airforce Zindabad’. It further claimed that “GM University got owned” with the defacement attributed to the handle ‘hacked by overthrash1337’.
The defaced pages, however, did not redirect visitors to external malicious sites.
The incident disrupted
access to essential student services, preventing users from downloading admit cards, certificates, and other academic documents. It also raised concerns over the potential exposure of sensitive data stored on the university portal.
While Deputy Registrar U C Pati confirmed that the matter had been reported to the cyber police for investigation, technical teams responded promptly, shutting down the portal on the grounds of security and maintenance shortly after the breach was reported. The website has been restored since then.
Officials further stated that measures are underway to bolster cybersecurity protocols and prevent future incidents.
This breach echoes a pattern of similar defacements targeting Indian educational institutions in recent years, where pro-Pakistan messages have been displayed to provoke or highlight cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Experts have stressed the urgent need for robust digital security frameworks and better monitoring to protect government web infrastructure with cyber threats becoming more sophisticated and frequent.
Notably, in 2016, the website of Utkal University in Bhubaneswar was hacked twice by hackers, who identified themselves as ‘Team Pak Cyber Attackers’ from Pakistan. A similar breach was also reported in 2012.