Indian Republic TV Website Targeted in Cyberattack by Pakistani Hackers
On May 7th, 2025, the official website of Republic TV — republicworld.com, known as the digital front of India’s prominent right-wing English-language news channel — was compromised in a cyberattack carried out by a Pakistani hacker operating under the alias * Dad P30xy *.
The attack was recorded at 19:47:36 WIB and officially listed on the DefacerID Cyber Attack Archive. Visitors to the site during the breach were greeted with a defaced homepage displaying a stark image bearing the words:
SEIZED BY CYBER ARMY (PAKISTAN)
Accompanying the image was a provocative message from the hacker:
| We F*ck Hard Don’t Mess With Us! |
#OpIndia
We possess the necessary resources and expertise to retaliate with a level of force that exceeds all expectations.
WE ARE:
* Dad P30xy * | -= Shah33n =-
The message makes direct reference to #OpIndia, a recurring hashtag used by Pakistani cyber collectives as part of politically motivated digital campaigns. This suggests the defacement was not random, but part of a broader ideological and cyber-political agenda, reflecting ongoing digital tensions between hacker communities in Pakistan and India.
At the time of publishing, republicworld.com was restored, and the defacement was removed. Interestingly, Republic TV responded by publishing a news story titled “Pakistan Attempts to Hack Republic’s Website, Miserably Fails in its Attempt.” In the article, the channel claimed:
However, Pakistan has not succeeded in its attempt. It was only able to hack the website partially. With such childish attempts, it certainly won’t succeed in intimidating Indians.
Frankly, it’s ironic to see Republic TV respond with a headline claiming the hack “miserably failed” when the defacement was live, publicly archived, and left untouched long enough to be mirrored. What should have been a quiet, urgent fix turned into a public denial. Security should’ve taken precedence over statements.
A public archive of the hacked page is available on DefacerID.
This is not * Dad P30xy *‘s first appearance in cyber operations targeting Indian infrastructure. Records on Zone-H indicate a previous breach dated February 22, 2024, in which the same hacker defaced the website of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Western Command) (pcdawc.gov.in), using nearly identical messaging. The archived version of that defacement can be accessed below,
As the digital battlefield continues to grow, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing cyber vulnerabilities in high-profile media and government platforms across South Asia.
