Bhubaneswar, May 3: The website of Utkal University - www.utkaluniversity.ac.in - was found defaced today by unknown hackers calling themselves "Faisal 1337".
This comes a week after the varsity's e-admission portal www.eadmission.utkaluniversity.ac.in had to be closed down due to security concerns.
The home page of the hacked website today had the picture of a Pakistan flag, along with the text: "We Are Team Pak Cyber Attackers", "Utkal University Hacked" and "Shame on your security" written on it.
Also mentioned was "Greetz to: Pak Cyber Attacker-MaDLeets-Pak Haxor Crew-Pak Cyber Expert-Team Maximizers-Xploiters-PakBugs-AnonGhost-ZHC-Pak Cyber Army-The Hacker Army-And All Pakistani Hacker Team".
The university authorities sprung to action by blocking the website to stop further damage. "We have blocked access to the website. A police complaint will also be lodged," said the vice-chancellor of Utkal University, Ashok Das.
The episode evoked strong reactions from students.
"The authorities should not be this careless. The websites are being played in and out by hackers," said Uttam Pattanaik, a student.
Director-general of police K.B. Singh blamed the university for negligence. "Websites are the organisation's responsibility. Hacking was possible because they were not careful enough with the security," Singh said.
In January, the OUAT website had been hacked. The authorities had lodged a complaint following which a student surrendered before the police claiming that he was responsible and that he had only been trying to practise hacking a website.
On April 20, the Odisha Staff Selection Commission website www.ossc.gov.in was hacked apparently by Philippines-based hackers.
The hacked website read: "Good day Mr Administrator, we hacked your website security to deliver a message. We are Philippine Cyber Syndicate. We fight for freedom and equality. We hate government corruption. We stand as one to protect the cyber world against abusive people using our skills in hacking. Consider this as a warning."
"Once the students' data are stolen, personal details are easily available to the criminals. It is likely that the user had chosen the date of birth, place of birth or mother's maiden name as his or her security question for some other online services. This simple scenario points to the extreme vulnerability of exposing personal information unknowingly," said a professional hacker, who did not want to be named.
