Unknown hackers have breached the billing systems of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and demanded a ransom payment in bitcoins to prevent a major dark web leak.
The database contains crucial municipal files regarding residential property records, water supply charges, conservancy fees, and individual commercial plot allotments within the official city limits.
Officials confirmed the disruptive cyberattack has actively blocked online link portals for three consecutive days during June, which represents the critical annual financial closing month.
“Since it is June (closing month), and a large number of people clear their property and tax dues this month, our systems have been hacked for the last three days,” said an official of the CDA revenue directorate.
Technical specialists from the information technology department, the revenue directorate, and external technical vendor NRTC are currently collaborating to restore the disrupted networks by Friday.
“Hopefully, the matter will be resolved by Friday (today),” he said.
Citizens remain entirely unable to process municipal tax payments online because the main website billing link was reported as completely inaccessible at 21:00 on Thursday night.
Official agency spokesperson Shahid Kiani firmly rejected independent claims regarding an absolute lack of backup data for the preceding six months of corporate operations during 2026.
The agency is presently recovering all essential data records from secure backup servers while technical teams work rapidly to ensure the system becomes functional again very soon.
Officials stated that all previous online financial transactions remain safe because they were processed securely through the verified 1-Link network or authorized banking channels.
It is worth noting that the capital civic body previously suffered a significant cyberattack by Indian hackers in 2024, which forced the Prime Minister Office to issue a formal notice.
Following that breach, the administrative board permanently authorized the civic agency to contract a specialized cybersecurity firm to safeguard its entire digital infrastructure and services.
