Pakistan’s Top News Channels Hacked and Hijacked With Anti-Military Messages
Pakistan’s Top News Channels Hacked and Hijacked With Anti-Military Messages 🚨
Several of Pakistan’s most-watched news channels, including Geo News, ARY News, and Samaa TV, faced a serious security breach on Sunday evening, 1 March 2026. Viewers across the country were left confused when regular programming was suddenly interrupted by unauthorized messages. These disruptions happened shortly after Iftar and continued into the high-traffic 9 pm news bulletins.
According to multiple Pakistani media reports, the hackers managed to take control of the satellite beams and live feeds, displaying text unrelated to the channels. The messages were aimed at the Pakistan Armed Forces, with some text specifically telling citizens to stand up against the military, blaming the institution for controlling and “destroying” the country. Reports from several accounts on X.com claimed that a certain faction of the army had brought destruction upon the country. While some initial reports suggested an Afghan hacker might be behind the targeting of ARY News, the full scale of the breach suggests a more coordinated effort.
Geo News’ Managing Editor, Azhar Abbas, explained that they had been fighting off hacking attempts for nearly 24 hours before the intruders finally broke through. He clarified that the channel is broadcast via the PAKSAT satellite and that the harmful messages shown on screen were entirely the work of outside elements. An official statement indicated, “Geo News, which is on Pakistan’s satellite PakSat, has been the target of hacking attempts for the past twenty-four hours by an unknown party.”
Although there has been no official word from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or the media regulator (PEMRA), local reports suggest Pakistan has hit back with its own cyberattacks, including DDoS attacks. Shortly after the hacked Pakistani channels were restored, a group called Pakistan Cyber Force allegedly hacked the Indian channel ABP News and the Food Odisha website in retaliation. They reportedly used the live feed to play speeches from the Pakistani Army Chief. The original attack on Pakistani media also affected websites in 19 different countries, where hackers allegedly ran unauthorized Google advertisement campaigns. As per the latest updates, authorities are now investigating the incident to prevent such a security lapse from happening again.