Maharashtra reports over 40,000 cyber attacks originating in China over the last week

Indian state Maharashtra’s cyber department published a report and issued a warning alongside it on June 23 claiming that threats of cyber attacks originating in China loomed large.

Additionally, it said that over the last week, over 40,000 attacks targetted sites that hoard sensitive information in the state. These include government records of infrastructure, and bank details.

However, the state body added that none of these infiltrations were successful. The police said urged users on the internet to exercise caution and to audit their systems regularly, given the strenuous relationship between China and India in the aftermath of the Galwan valley violence which killed 20 Indian soldiers in action.

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Yet, the state officials added that the hackers have in their possession a database of over 20 lakh Indian email IDs.

Given the severity of the border conflict, a warning was issued by the central government. A report from June 18 revealed that China is hosting multiple DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks against Indian information websites, and payment gateways, which could jeopardise a lot of data.

According to the Maharashtra Cyber Department, exactly 40,300 cyber attacks were initiated over the last week.

As part of these coordinated attacks, hackers attempted to trespass protective measures to prevent data leakage. The targets were major government websites, banking systems, and ATMs.

When the cyber department tracked these attacks, it led them to Chengdu, a city in Central China. The imperative detail here is that China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Unit 61398 is stationed in the city, and is known for its cyber warfare tactics.

India is one of manyvictims of such Chinese aggression. Reportedly, Australia also reported a major attack on its administrative services and political organisations last month. This came in the backdrop of Australia seeking an international review of China’s role in the spread of coronavirus, and its alleged negligence. Following this, China imposed tariffs on Australian exports of beef and barley.

Earlier, Indian agencies put out a warning stating an attack could take place, posing as “free coronavirus tests”.