Around end of July and early August 2025, Athenian Tech (AT) got wind of preparations of cyberattacks targeting India ahead of its 79th Independence Day. AT intercepted chatter across Telegram, Signal and Atox which revealed heightened activity by multiple hacktivist groups operating under the “Allied Muslim Hacktivist Coalition.” These groups planned synchronised strikes across sectors around 15th August 2025.
AT’s threat‑intelligence platform, Prime, combined with analyst‑led infiltration of closed channels, enabled early threat detection. The team engaged in the following activities to get more information about the planned activities.
- Monitored hacktivist rooms.
- Mapped threat actors, alliances, cross‑border coordination patterns, and detailed TTPs spanning Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, and the Middle East.
- Developed an IOC/TTP dataset covering malicious IPs, domains, malware artefacts, and MITRE‑mapped techniques for SOC and national‑agency consumption.
- Issued a pre‑emptive advisory recommending intensified log monitoring (10–20 August), geo‑fencing of high‑risk regions, blocking malicious indicators, deploying honeypots, and initiating intelligence‑sharing with NTRO and NCIIPC.
Athenian Tech’s early‑warning intelligence led to the following:
- Enabled Indian organisations to enter “heightened alert” mode ahead of 15 August.
- Equipped CERT-In, law enforcement, and large SOCs with actionable intelligence.
- Increased national‑level awareness of the expanding multi-national “digital jihadist” ecosystem, informing policy decisions, cyber‑resilience planning, and security preparedness around national holidays.
