Pro-Indian hacking group ‘Team 1-4-1’ has claimed to execute a cyber attack on Manipur Police website, a regional police service that serves the Indian state of Manipur.
According to the threat group, the group executed a DDoS service on the website of the police force in the Indian state of Manipur.
The hacker collective, claiming allegiance to safeguarding Indian cyberspace, had posted on their Telegram group registering their protest against the perceived inaction and alleged complicity of the Manipur police in the ongoing ethnic conflict gripping the region.
The first notification of the DDoS attack was posted on the Telegram group around 6pm IST on Friday. The Cyber Express found that the website was inaccessible for a few hours since and was back online around 10pm IST.
The political crisis in Manipur is rooted in escalating ethnic violence between two major communities – the Meitei and the Kuki.
Over the past few months, the simmering tension between the majority Meitei and the minority Kuki has spiraled into what some have labeled a state of civil war.
The Cyber Express has reached out to the Manipur state police department for a confirmation of the cyber attack on Manipur Police website. We are yet to receive an official statement.
‘Team 1-4-1’ and the cyber attack on Manipur Police website
Team 1-4-1 popped up in the cybersecurity news recently recently, leaving a track record of executing a series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting prominent websites.
Recently, their victims included the official websites of Nayatel, the Army Institute of Military History in Pakistan, E-kinerja, the Bangladesh Army, Barisal City Corporation, and the Universitas Ahmad Dahlan.
In the most recent incident, the hackers defaced the website of Madargonj Aftab Huda Zoha Government College in Manipur.
These attacks showcase the group’s growing audacity and their focus on high-profile targets.
DDoS was the most popular form of large-scale cyber attack in 2022. If we read the indications well, the situation will not change in 2023 either, The Cyber Express reported in December 2022.
Manipur Police and the ongoing ethnic violence
The genesis of the crisis can be traced back to Kukis protesting against Meitei demands for official tribal status.
The Kukis argue that this move would bolster the Meiteis’ already dominant influence on government and society, potentially impacting land rights and settlement patterns.
Moreover, other underlying factors have contributed to the escalating conflict, such as the war on drugs waged by the Meitei-led government, illegal migration from Myanmar, and competition over land use due to population growth and unemployment.
The situation has taken a grim turn, with shocking incidents of violence being documented. One such incident involved two Kuki women being paraded naked by Meitei men after their village was razed.
The use of rape and sexual assault as weapons of terror has sparked a deadly cycle of revenge attacks, further exacerbating the crisis.
The Indian Union government’s response to the situation has drawn criticism, reported the national media.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also heads the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party governing both the Union parliament and the state of Manipur, remained silent on the escalating violence until recently when a video of the May 4 attack on Kuki women emerged this week.
Prime Minister Modi condemned the incident, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, some question the delay in his public acknowledgment of the crisis.
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