‘Rise Against The Army, They Are Your Enemy’: Pakistan’s Geo News Hacked As Anti-Military Messages Air Amid Escalating Border War With Afghanistan

On Sunday, one of the major television broadcasting stations in Pakistan, Geo News, was allegedly hacked and anti-military messages were briefly shown on screen during the normal programming. The audience saw some strange text flashes that preceded the shutdown of the channel over a few minutes making some people fear that it could have been a cyber fight with the transmission system of the broadcaster. The television feed was interrupted, though the Geo News site was operating as usual.

Pakistan’s Geo News Hacked As Anti-Military Messages Air Amid Escalating Border War With Afghanistan

Some of the messages used during the breach included the statements, Your Army is Your Enemy, and a longer written Urdu message that implored the citizens to rebel against the military. The Urdu text was as follows: ‘Tumhari fauj aur makhsoos halqon ne poori tabahi se dochar kar diya hai iske khilaf kharay ho jao’. The messages were placed on a background picture of an explosion and the Pakistani flag, indicating that there was a possibility of using the broadcast signal intentionally.

After the incident, the channel was temporarily off air and then TV service was resumed. According to viewers in various locations, Geo News abruptly went off the satellite screens and was replaced by a message showing that the service was not available. When the feed was brought back, the disturbing images and slogans were shown a few minutes and regular programming was restored.

No Official Statement

To date, the Geo News management and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) have not made any official statement concerning the breach. The authorities have not also established who could be the responsible persons or how the intrusion could have taken place. The occurrence has seen wide discourse in the social media, with most of them demanding an urgent inquiry into the safety of broadcast systems and the increasing danger of cyber interference in the media landscape in Pakistan.

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