The Indian hackers have become active in stealing sensitive information of Pakistanis, it emerged on Tuesday.

Reportedly, Indian hackers are trying to get access to the personal data of Pakistanis by using identities belonging to the Pakistani government.

The government has sent a circular regarding the matter to all federal ministries and provincial chief secretaries in which they were sensitized about the discovery of an Indian hacker group ‘SideWinder’ that illegally accesses the official email systems of government departments.

According to the alert, the hackers attempted to hack into the systems of NADRA and the Pakistan Air Force in order to obtain private data from individuals in Pakistan.

The advisory stated that Advance Persistent Threat (APT) Group engages in cyberattacks using websites, e-mails, and mobile applications.

The federal government, in its advisory, encouraged the government agencies to use a reputable and updated version of antivirus software and also timely update all apps and operating systems.

The advice has urged government agencies to examine the system’s security and utilize multi-factor difficult passwords in every system, mobile account, financial account, and mailing address.

In November 2022, an India-based hacker gang seized control of computers owned by Pakistani politicians, generals, and diplomats and eavesdropped on their private conversations.

The hacking team used malware to take over computers and targeted the country’s senior generals and politicians. The most famous Pakistan-related target was Pervez Musharraf, the former president of the country.