China and India-linked hackers targeted multiple law enforcement agencies in Pakistan over a two-year period that compromised sensitive police and citizen data, according to a new cybersecurity report.
Researchers from cybersecurity firm SentinelOne claimed on Thursday that they found evidence that suspected cyber attackers from India and China were active separately between 2024 and 2026. These hackers targeted Balochistan Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Islamabad Police, and the Punjab Safe City authorities using malware associated with, using malware.
Balochistan Police that became the primary intelligence target because of the region’s importance to both China and India. The report claims that Balochistan Police were the main target with attackers compromising and attacking computer systems that managed sensitive police and public records, including biometric data, criminal case files, police personnel records, hotel and tenant registrations, and citizen complaints.
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The evidence offered a glimpse into the foreign efforts to gather information on Pakistan’s long-standing security challenges and geopardize it, including insurgency, as well as ongoing conflicts with Afghanistan, and the country’s economic partnership with China. Hackers also breached Balochistan Police complaint management system by using malware disguised as a software update that was uploaded to the portal, potentially infecting police officers using the system and the members of the public checking the status of complaints, according to the report.
The malware could have enabled the attackers access to the devices of Balochistan police officers or citizens who had downloaded the fake update, according to the report. Researchers claimed that they linked one of the malware samples to a Chinese-speaking developer based on coding artifacts and development environment indicators found in related files.
The reports seem to back the claims made by Pakistan of foreign element sponsoring and backing terrorism and insurgency in Balochistan. The western province of Pakistan has been severely affected with terrorism in recent years, with law enforcement agencies its primary targets.
With Inputs from News Agencies
