Telangana High Court website hacked

Hyderabad: In a disturbing cyberattack, the official website (tshc.gov.in) of the Telangana High Court was hacked on November 15, 2025, resulting in the tampering of numerous official PDF documents.

The breach disrupted access to critical judicial information such as cause lists, case statuses, notices, and court orders. Instead of the expected documents, users attempting to open PDFs on the site found themselves redirected to an online gaming site named ‘BDG SLOT’, raising serious concerns over the security of the judiciary’s digital infrastructure.

The attack was first noticed in the morning when court staff identified that several PDF files were disabled and could no longer be accessed normally.

Upon investigation, it was confirmed that unknown cybercriminals had meddled with the files by embedding redirects to the gambling platform.

High Court IT Registrar T Venkateswara Rao promptly complained to the Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy, detailing the incident and its implications for the court’s reputation and data integrity.

The Telangana High Court website is hosted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) at the BRKR Bhavan in Hyderabad. NIC officials launched an internal inquiry immediately, but the detailed report on how the intruders gained access and the full extent of the breach is still awaited.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have registered an FIR under various sections of the Information Technology Act, including unauthorized access, data tampering, and identity theft, as well as sections of the Telangana Gaming Act, given the redirection to a betting site.

This cyber breach underlines the vulnerabilities faced by crucial government digital assets, especially those in the judiciary, a pillar of the democratic system.

Authorities have intensified investigations to trace the perpetrators and strengthen cybersecurity measures to prevent future incidents.

The incident has sparked widespread alarm over the potential manipulation of sensitive judicial data and has prompted calls for a comprehensive audit and overhaul of judicial web infrastructure security.

The gaming website involved in the redirection is called "BDG SLOT," which is an online slot machine gambling platform. Such sites typically offer various digital casino games designed to attract users to gamble for real or virtual money. These platforms are often associated with high risks of fraud, addiction, and illegal betting.