Oz Police Investigating ‘Indian’ Hack Attacks: Reports

Australian police say investigations are underway in a string of hacking attacks against Melbourne-based companies, reportedly linked to recent violence against Indian nationals, reported French News Agency AFP.

The cyber raids, which have occurred in the past week, are being probed by a specialist taskforce, a spokeswoman said, refusing to confirm media reports that they were linked to the Indian assaults, the report added.

“The Victoria Police e-crimes squad is investigating reports of alleged hacking of a number of different business servers hosted in Melbourne,” the spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

“The ongoing investigation is in its infancy and it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”

Earlier, an Australian daily had reported that several Melbourne construction and engineering firms had been attacked in recent days by a hacker calling himself the “Ghost Buster”.

“Your server data have been compromised … and have been encrypted,” Ghost Buster was reported to have written in one message.

“Stop racial attacks against Indian people,” the message said, and warned against more such attacks unless the assaults came to an end.

In recent months, Australia has faced severe criticism in Indian cyberspace for failing to prevent a string of violent attacks against Indian students.

While Indians largely believe the assaults to be racially motivated, Canberra has maintained that the incidents were mostly instances of urban crime.