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Pakistan-linked Cyber Campaigns Target Indian Government Amid Operation Sindoor

First seen 28 Jan 2026, 15:08 UTC • Thehindubusinessline

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ThreatCluster

Indian government entities were targeted in two cyber campaigns, Gopher Strike and Sheet Attack, linked to a threat actor in Pakistan. These campaigns utilized previously undocumented tradecraft and were identified by Zscaler ThreatLabz in September 2025. Concurrently, during Operation Sindoor in May 2025, Indian cyber networks experienced a surge in phishing and malware attacks.

How this analysis works

Attack Flow

13 entities, 24 inferred relationships (STIX 2.1).

Threat Actor (2)

Apt36
Transparent Tribe

Technique (3)

Malware
Phishing
T1566 - Spearphishing Attachment

Campaign (2)

Gopher Strike
Sheet Attack

Malware (2)

ReadOnly
WriteOnly

Affected Platform (2)

Windows
Firebase

Tool (2)

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Google Sheets

Relationships

Apt36 uses ReadOnly
Apt36 uses WriteOnly
Transparent Tribe uses ReadOnly
Transparent Tribe uses WriteOnly
Apt36 uses Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Apt36 uses Google Sheets
Transparent Tribe uses Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Transparent Tribe uses Google Sheets
Apt36 uses Malware
Apt36 uses Phishing
Apt36 uses T1566 - Spearphishing Attachment
Transparent Tribe uses Malware
Transparent Tribe uses Phishing
Transparent Tribe uses T1566 - Spearphishing Attachment
Gopher Strike attributed to Apt36
Gopher Strike attributed to Transparent Tribe
Sheet Attack attributed to Apt36
Sheet Attack attributed to Transparent Tribe
Gopher Strike uses ReadOnly
Gopher Strike uses WriteOnly
Sheet Attack uses ReadOnly
Sheet Attack uses WriteOnly
Apt36 related to Windows
Apt36 related to Firebase

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Pakistan-linked Cyber Campaigns Target Indian Government Amid Operation Sindoor

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