The Khalistan referendum voting in Brisbane, Australia was hit by a massive cyber security attack on Sunday within 30 minutes of its start.
Voting started at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Center with the Sikh holy prayers at 9am sharp. The voting continued smoothly for the first 30 minutes, but then the whole voting electronic system crashed as a cyber-attack was launched.
Organizers Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) claimed the attack was well-planned and well-coordinated, and alleged the Indian government agencies were behind the cyber-attack.
They said this was not the first time that the Sikhs’ Khalistan referendum voting was attacked. One of the organisers said attempts were made previously as well, but the IT team and security experts of the SFJ were able to restore the system back up.
On Sunday, as the system was disrupted, thousands of people waited in queues outside for the system to start operating again. The online portal especially built for safe voting on the question of ‘Secession of India from Punjab’ went down, and a message read on the system: “Your connection is not private. Attackers might be trying to steal your information from the website (for example passwords, messages or cards).”
Inside the vast hall, dozens of policemen stood in line to provide security to the voters. Outside the hall, over 50 policemen patrolled the streets as there were fears of disruptions from the local Hindutva groups, who had announced a demonstration outside the center.
The cyber-attack is a part of a sustained campaign by New Delhi to halt the Khalistan Referendum voting in western countries, which have seen thousands of Sikhs coming out to show their support for the creation of Khalistan.
Qihoo 360 Technology, a Beijing-based major software company released a cyber-security report asserting that in India, Sikhs with religious and political inclination as well as Khalistan referendum 2020 websites and mobile apps were under attack from Indian cyber mercenary group, known as ‘APT C-35’.
APT C-35 mercenaries have launched several phishing websites and mobile apps relating to referendum 2020 as bait to target pro-Khalistan Sikhs in India.
