Denying the reports that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) website was hacked today, an official said it is blocked due to repair work.
"There has been no hacking. The site is under construction, that is why it's down," the official was quoted as saying by IANS.
The Home Ministry website remained inaccessible throughout Sunday morning, which was subsequently attributed to a hacking in many news reports.
PTI reported that an official confirmed that the website was hacked today, prompting authorities to temporarily block it.
The MHA website was immediately blocked by the National Informatics Centre after hacking was noticed.
Computer emergency response teams are looking into the incident, the official said.
Last month, suspected Pakistan-affiliated operatives had hacked the official website of the elite National Security Guard (NSG) and defaced it with a profanity-laden message against the Prime Minister and anti-India content.
More than 700 websites of various central and state government departments were hacked in the past four years and a total of 8,348 persons were arrested for their involvement in cyber crimes, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Of the total of 707, 199 of them were hacked last year, 164 in 2015, 155 in 2014 and 189 in 2013, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
Rijiju said a total of 8,348 persons were arrested for their involvement in cyber crimes.
Last year, Twitter accounts and website of Congress party and its office-bearers including of vice president Rahul Gandhi was hacked.
