The kinetic military confrontations in the Middle East and on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have spilled into the digital domain. On Sunday night, the live television feeds of Pakistan’s Geo News and India’s ABP News were targeted in high-profile hacking incidents, replacing regular programming with subversive messages and military propaganda.
Geo News Targeted via Satellite
Management at Geo News confirmed that for the past 24 hours, coordinated attempts were made to breach the channel’s broadcast on the PAKSAT communication satellite. The hackers successfully bypassed security protocols to display an “inappropriate and subversive” message across the screen.
The network clarified that the message had no affiliation with the channel’s editorial stance and urged authorities to investigate the breach of satellite communication. “Geo News has been facing continuous disruptions and attempts to sabotage our transmission,” the statement read, calling for immediate action to bring the cyber-intruders to justice.
ہم اپنےناظرین کو آگاہ کرنا چاہتے ہیں،،، کہ جیو نیوز ،،،جو پاکستان کے سیٹلائٹ ،،،پاک سیٹ پر ہے،،،،اس کو کسی جانب سے پچھلے چوبیس گھنٹوں سے ہیک کرنے کی اور اس کی نشریات میں رکاوٹ ڈالنے کی کوشش کی جارہی ہے،،،اور اب کچھ دیر سے جیو نیوز کی نشریات کو مسلسل رکاوٹ کا سامنا ہے،جیو نیوز…
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) March 1, 2026
ABP News Hacked with Pro-Pakistan Content
Simultaneously, the major Indian news outlet ABP News was briefly taken off its regular transmission after a sophisticated cyber-attack. During the breach, the channel’s scheduled programming was replaced with:
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Pro-Pakistan Slogans: Nationalistic slogans were aired across the screen to millions of viewers.
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Military Content: Excerpts from speeches by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Force (CDF), were broadcast during the hijacked airtime.
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Army Visuals: High-definition content related to the Pakistan Army was played in place of the evening news.
ABP News, a digital behemoth with over 50 million YouTube subscribers and 25 billion total views, faced significant reputational risk as the hijacked feed circulated across social media platforms.
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The Rise of Information Warfare
These dual hacks underscore the intensifying “gray zone” warfare accompanying the physical battles in the region. Cybersecurity experts suggest that the timing—coinciding with Operation Ghazab-lil-Haqq on the western border and the US-Israel-Iran conflict—points to state-sponsored or highly organized hacktivist groups attempting to manipulate public perception and demoralize national audiences.
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