The official website of the Keralam Government’s General Administration Department (GAD) remains unavailable on September 30, three days after it was hacked by a group claiming to be Pakistan-based “Team Blackleets”. The portal shows a “Website Temporarily Unavailable” message, stating that the technical team is working to resolve the issue and restore the service.
The continued unavailability of the portal has brought renewed attention to the September 27 cyberattack on an important State government website and comes against the backdrop of earlier cyberattacks and attempted intrusions attributed to or claimed by Pakistan-based hacker groups targeting Indian websites.
The website of the General Administration Department was found hacked on the morning of September 27. The homepage was replaced with the Pakistan flag and pro-Pakistan messages, while a group identifying itself as “Team Blackleets” claimed responsibility for the breach.
The hackers also posted the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad” and a message identifying themselves as Pakistani hackers. The message warned that numerous websites were being hacked and that it was the Keralam government portal’s “day”.
As soon as the hacking was detected, the hosting provider suspended the account. A cyber team began examining whether the attack was confined to the website’s homepage or whether the hackers had gained unauthorised access to the server, database or government information. Officials had said that the website would be restored only after the necessary security checks were completed.
The GAD portal is used to publish information concerning the functioning of the State government and Secretariat administration. It carries government orders, notifications, circulars, information relating to appointments and transfers, civil-list details, government calendars and other administrative information.
Officials had also said following the breach that the Department would report the matter to the Cyber Police for investigation and file a complaint. The Kerala State IT Mission operates key State government websites and e-governance programmes.
Earlier Pakistan-linked cyberattacks
The latest incident is not isolated from the wider pattern of Pakistan-linked hacker groups attempting to target Indian digital infrastructure and publicly accessible websites.
In May 2025, Indian cybersecurity agencies thwarted attempted cyberattacks attributed to Pakistan-based groups Cyber Group HOAX1337 and National Cyber Crew. The attempted attacks targeted websites linked to Army Public Schools, ex-servicemen and other defence-related institutions. According to reports at the time, the websites of Army Public School Nagrota and Sunjuwan were among those targeted, while attempts were also made against other military welfare and public-facing platforms.
