14 DAY TRIAL // Afzal Faizal, a known Pakistani hacker who has defaced countless Indian websites, is currently sought after by Indian security agencies for breaching the network of a local bank, according to India Today.
Faizal is one of the most famous Pakistani hackers who, in the past few years, have engaged in the non-official cyber war between the two countries.
Faizal, one of the most prolific Pakistani hackers
Faizal, who goes online by the name of Faisal 1337 and is associated with the Team Pak Cyber Attackers, claims he had attacked over 1,000 Indian websites, as part of a hacking campaign carried out for nationalistic reasons, on behalf of his country, against India, its immortal enemy.
Most of these hacks are simple defacements, where Faizal compromises a website and just leaves a message on one of its pages with a pro-Pakistan message.
From private businesses, the hacker has slowly evolved to targeting government websites. The most infamous incident happened in June, when Faizal defaced the websites of seven Indian embassies around the world.
This included the Embassy of India in Ankara, Turkey; the Embassy of India in Athens, Greece; the Embassy of India to Mexico; the Consulate General of India, Sao Paulo, Brazil; the Embassy of India in Bucharest , Romania; the Embassy of India Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and the High Commission of India, Pretoria, South Africa.
Additionally, the hacker also defaced the websites of police stations and various government agencies.
Authorities looking for Faizal after breaching bank network
Authorities are now saying that, five days ago, Faizal stepped up his hacking game when he compromised the website of an unnamed Indian bank. The hacker seems to have escalated his access and reached the e-payment system of the nationalized bank.
This sent banking employees and authorities into a frenzy to secure the system and investigate the breach. The trail eventually led them back to Faizal, and officials seem set on arresting and charging the hacker. Since Faizal is a Pakistani citizen, Pakistan may not be that willing to help, since there's bad blood between the two nations.
Pakistan and India celebrate their independence day one after the other, on August 14 and 15. Every year on this day, hackers try to show their superiority over their neighbors by hacking and defacing websites from across the (still disputed) border.