A recent cyberattack targeting the official website of the Hyderabad Water Board has raised concerns about the security of government-managed websites. After a series of suspicious clicks, users found themselves redirected from the Hyderabad Water Board’s site to a betting website. This marks another disturbing incident in a string of attacks on government platforms, including a previous breach involving the Supreme Court of India’s YouTube channel.
What Happened to the Hyderabad Water Board Website?
The issue began when certain Google search results related to the Hyderabad Water Board led to unusual links. Upon clicking, users were sent to an entirely different URL, a betting site called betwww20.com. This wasn’t a one-time incident, as multiple sections of the official website were affected. Our team observed this behavior for two consecutive days, confirming that the website had indeed been compromised.
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Problem Only Occurs via Google News Links
The problem was particularly evident for those accessing the website through Google News links. Instead of reaching the official Hyderabad Water Board page, users were greeted by the betting website. Interestingly, accessing the website directly did not trigger the redirect, which suggests a vulnerability specifically related to the site’s visibility on Google News. As of now, the issue has persisted for more than 24 hours, indicating that the authorities responsible for maintaining the website have not yet addressed the breach.
The situation raises important questions about the security of government websites and the potential risks faced by users. Cyberattackers likely exploited a weakness in how the website is displayed in Google search results, allowing them to hijack traffic and redirect users to a malicious page. Tests on different browsers, including Microsoft Edge, did not show any issues, but users on Chrome experienced the harmful redirects.
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Despite the ongoing problem, there has been no official statement from the authorities in charge of the Hyderabad Water Board’s security. It is expected that government officials will soon investigate the matter and take necessary steps to fix the vulnerability and prevent similar attacks in the future.