Screenshot of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board website under maintenance. Photo: Special Arrangement
The official website of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) https://www.hyderabadwater.gov.in/en/ was taken down on Friday, “for maintenance” after users experienced redirections to unintended websites.
The website, a resource of official data in public domain, besides being the platform for payment of consumer bills and various services, was found to be leading to promotional and gambling content such as betting, online rummy and casino.
While the incident time is not clear, an official at HMWS&SB said there was no direct attack to the website: “Due to some technical glitches, from search engines, few pages of HMWS&SB website were getting redirected to unintended websites.”
Director (Technical) VL Praveen Kumar, speaking to The Hindu, said the website was temporarily taken down as a precautionary measure, particularly in view of the safety of the users’ services.
He said the issue was instantly reported to Telangana State Data Centre (TSDC), which facilitates various departments host services and applications on a common infrastructure, and the Security Operations Centre (SOC), which safekeeps the cyber space of the State infrastructure.
“HMWSSB’s technical team is working vigorously on this issue. We want to assure all consumers that there is no need to panic, as there will be no impact on the regular services. Information of the consumers is safe. The website will be up soon,” Mr. Praveen Kumar assured.
Published – November 09, 2024 01:52 pm IST
