ISLAMABAD, July 8 Authorities said on Thursday they had traced a gang of hackers and arrested five suspects involved in defacing thousands of domestic and international websites and in online fraud.

The “internationally-known hackers” have been picked up in an operation spanning the country over the past few weeks, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) senior officer Mian Idrees said.

“We have unearthed notorious hackers' group 'Pakbugs' and arrested five members of this group,” he said.

Authorities seized computers and other equipment involved in various cyber crimes, he said.

The FIA said in a statement the group was involved in hacking or defacing thousands of websites belonging to government, non-government and international organisations.—AFP