Indian Revenue Service website taken down by 'Pakistani' hackers

The official web portal of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) was allegedly hacked by a suspected group of Pakistan-based hackers.

According to officials, the website which belonged to India’s Income Tax department, was hacked early Saturday and still remains offline.

Officials further claimed that messages, which read, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and ‘We are team Pak cyber attacker’, were posted on the website.

Authorities later took charge and left a message for their visitors, stating, “We’ll be back soon! Sorry for the inconvenience but we’re performing some maintenance at the moment.”

The portal acts as an official communicator between the country’s Central Board of Direct Taxes and the IT department field offices.

In May 2015, Indian music streaming website Gaana.com was hacked by a netizen who goes by the name Mak Man. It was later discovered that the hacker belonged to Pakistan, and is based in Lahore.

Interestingly, the CEO later offered the hacker a job at Gaana.com to help find other issue on the website. After hacking the website, ‘Mak Man’ shared the news on Facebook, according to Business Standard, and wrote: “Mak Man”.

Many took to Twitter when the news surfaced.

Officials said messages like 'Pakistan Zindabad' and 'we are team Pak cyber attacker' were posted on the website https://t.co/Aus9gBI6JW

— The Delhi Times (@TheDelhiTimes) February 7, 2016

#CyberAttack On Indian Revenue Service Official Website Hacked By Pakistan Hackers.. Website is Still Offline.https://t.co/obGzztzLVf #hack

— Hackers Online Club (@HOCupdate) February 7, 2016

India: Indian Revenue Service (IRS) website hacked by suspected Pakistani hackers, messages like 'Pakistan Zindabad' posted

— Eincop (@Eincop) February 8, 2016

India: Indian Revenue Service (IRS) website hacked by suspected Pakistani hackers, messages like 'Pakistan Zindabad' posted

— Eincop (@Eincop) February 8, 2016