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As India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the brutal Pahalgam terror attack, an equally aggressive offensive was launched — not just across the Line of Control, but deep into India’s digital infrastructure.
In this week’s Defence Mantra, BharatShakti Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale breaks down the massive cyber onslaught that accompanied the operation. From over 90 crore DDoS attacks per hour to phishing campaigns targeting citizens and attempts to crash critical systems — this was a coordinated attempt to disrupt and destabilise India during a moment of military escalation.
Nitin explains how agencies like CERT-In, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the National Cyber Security Coordinator’s office worked in close coordination to protect high-value targets such as the National Stock Exchange, air traffic control systems, railways, and electrical grids — any of which, if breached, could have resulted in catastrophic economic and civilian consequences.
He also sheds light on how probing attacks were first observed during India’s presidency of the G-20, and then intensified between April 22 and May 7, in the lead-up and aftermath of kinetic strikes.
Drawing on decades of experience covering military and national security affairs, Nitin also explains how states increasingly rely on non-state actors for deniable cyber aggression — and why cyber resilience and infrastructure hardening must now be at the heart of India’s national security doctrine.
This episode is a stark reminder that the next war may not start with bombs — but with bots, breaches, and bandwidth.
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