So this actually happened and it is honestly one of the more entertaining things to come out of the current Pakistan India tensions. ABP News, one of India’s bigger mainstream news channels, got hacked by Pakistan’s Cyber Force. And we are not talking about just taking the website down or showing some message on a screen. They actually took over the broadcast and ran Pakistan Zindabad slogans on live television. People watching ABP News for their morning headlines got quite the surprise.
And they did not stop at slogans either. Once they were in, Pakistan’s Cyber Force pushed it further and started airing Pakistan Army content directly on the channel. Clips from Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir’s address started playing on what Indian viewers were expecting to be their own national news. Think about that for a second. You turn on your TV, put on a news channel you trust, and there is the Pakistani Army Chief speaking on your screen. That is not something you forget in a hurry.
This was clearly a response to Indian cyber attacks on Pakistani systems. Pakistan’s Cyber Force basically said okay you want to play this game, let us play. And they picked one of the most visible ways possible to make that point. No guns, no missiles, just a very loud and very public message delivered straight into Indian living rooms through their own television. You mess with us digitally, we will show up somewhere you really do not expect us.
The reaction was about what you would expect. Pakistanis were loving every second of it online, Indians were absolutely furious, and the clips spread across social media faster than anyone could control. Whether India tries to hit back again or quietly moves on is another question, but Pakistan’s Cyber Force made their point and they made it in a way that was impossible to ignore.
