Indian security researchers on Saturday shared about a new series of cyber attacks crafted by a notorious Pakistan-based group against the Indian Army and the education sector.

According to the report, there has been continuing target on the Indian government and military entities by a persistent threat group Transparent Tribe who are active since 2013. The Transparent Tribe group also known as APT-36 has been using different techniques to decoy the Indian Army, which led to compromising their high-tech systems. The Transparent Tribe group has used a malicious file named Revision of Officers Posting Policy this time to lure the Indian Army.

The file that the group used to target the Army systems looked legitimate in the first place but once the file opened, it exposed the vulnerabilities as it contained embedded malware. It has been also observed that the target on the Indian Army system and education sector has increased lately, the Indian security research team said.

Transparent Tribe has been consistently focusing on infiltrating in prestigious educational institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Technology and Business schools since May 2022.

In the early month of 2023, the cyber attack on the Indian Army system intensified and it reached a peak in February month.

Researchers added the sub-group of the Transparent Tribe known as Side Copy, a group that imitated the tactics of the Sidewinder APT-36 has also been involved in targeting Indian Defence Organisation. The modus operandi of this group involved testing a domain hosting malicious files, and potentially serving as a phishing page.

The sophisticated tactic was used to fool unsuspecting victims so that the group could be successful in stealing sensitive information.

As per the report, such files have exploited macro-enabled PowerPoint add-ons (PPAM) to hide archive files as object linking and embedding (OLE) which effectively camouflages the presence of malware.

According to the report, Seqrite Antivirus, a Quick Heal’s enterprise security brand has recommended some preventive measures such as exercising caution while opening email attachments or downloading files, especially if they have been unsolicited or from unknown sources.

In a viral CCTV video, a man has been seen beating a woman on the roadside in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. The woman was trying to resist the man who was trying to physically harass her and wanted to get intimate with her.

After continuous rejection from the woman to get intimate, the man suddenly got aggressive and ended up beating the burqa-clad woman. The man started slapping the woman on the busy road as she kept refusing. Later, he forced the woman to take an e-rickshaw with him.  

The incident reportedly took place on June 20 as per the date mentioned in the viral CCTV visual.

As per the report, the incident has been connected with the recently exposed sex racket which was running in Hotel Vrindavan located in Didoli village on the Lucknow-Prayagraj national highway.

In response to the video, Raebareli police said the local police have not received any information regard to the incident but police have taken cognizance of the matter and they have identified the accused person in the viral video. The police assured to take legal action and asked the person to share any information regarding the matter that would be helpful for the police.

Earlier this week, police had busted the sex racket which was running for a long time in Didoli village in Harchandpur, Raebareli. The police team raided hotel Vrindavan at night and detained three women and two men over illegal activities after receiving information from the villagers.

In the search of the police, objectionable material, seven mobile phones and other items were found inside the hotel. Six people, including the hotel operator were sent to jail on Thursday.

In Karnataka’s Mandya district, two boys were forced into marriage in order to please the rain gods.

The villager organised the marriage of two young boys on Friday night, and a feast was also planned as a symbolic act to please the rain gods to bring showers to the area.

The rituals were performed in Gangenahalli Village, Krishnarajpet Taluka of Mandya district as some areas of the state are said to have received less rainfall than they did a year ago.

Because of this, locals claim that the state’s residents have turned to ancient traditions and are adhering to bizarre practises in order to appease the rain gods.

The two youngsters were seen by locals engaged in a wedding ceremony as the bride and groom while dressed in traditional attire.

As part of the marriage ceremony, a special feast was also planned for the people, and they prayed to the rain deity for the rain to make up the shortfall.

The locals said, this is a part of a traditional prayer intended to please the rain gods and send rain to the area. Following the wedding, a feast was also planned, they claimed. There is less rain this year than there was last year since the state’s monsoon has reduced, they added.

Meanwhile, as per the Karnataka weather department, heavy rains are predicted for the next three days in the coastal and southern hinterlands.

Coastal Karnataka is frequently affected by the southwest monsoon, which brings severe rains. The majority of the coastal districts, numerous districts in the southern hinterland, and some areas of the northern hinterland are expected to see severe rain and thunder.

However, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts are likely to see heavy rain. Similar weather is expected for the following three days, or up until June 27, and a yellow alert has been issued.

Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru will see a predominately cloudy sky with a significant risk of thundershowers in the evening or night. Strong surface winds are occasionally possible, and temperatures as high as 29 degrees Celsius and as low as 21 degrees Celsius are highly likely to occur.