Hostilities between India and Pakistan seem to have reached cyberspace even as the two neighbors strive to resolve differences through dialogue. The first casualty in the cyber war appears to be the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) website that was hacked by pro-Pakistan hackers.

Ohter Indian web sites that have come in for similar treatment are web sites of Bank of Baroda and that of a news channel.

Officials maintain that there was no sensitive information on the website www.cidap.gov.in of AP CID and the attack has not affected th working of the department in any way. However, the Cyber Crime Wing of the CID, by way of abundant caution has initiated steps to track the hacker using his ip address.

However, tracking the hacker would not be easy according to knowledgeable sources. Hackers use a technique called the proxy chain technique, involving hundreds of servers across the globe they say. The attack is launched from some of the servers that are  randomly selected,  which makes it very difficult to track down hackers, they added.

According to Additional DGP (Law and Order) A K Khan the hacking was real but it seems that someone only wanted to prove that our web site could be attacked.

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the act, from the abusive message posted, it seems to be the handiwork  of some Islamic fundamentalist group, according to reports.

The hackers left messages claiming the attack was in retaliation to the hacking of Pakistan's Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority's (OGRA) web site.