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Open Source Investigation - Ownership of Website: covid-19[dot]pk [Thread]
Several people have reported the dubiousness of, and discrepancies within, the website; prominent observers include journalist Sana Jamal (archive.vn/TrvcJ) and former PTI digital media head Imran Ghazali (archive.vn/u9ySq).
Before proceeding, it is imperative to state the very obvious but not properly considered fact that any official state website would host its domain on 'gov[dot]pk' indicating association with the federal government, not through private registration.
Per PKNIC, the official domain name registrant for .PK domains, 'covid[dot]pk' was created on 15th March 2020.
A source-code lookup of the website reveals it has a unique Google Analytics account embedded within the homepage (UA-91836611-2).
A reverse-lookup of the Google Analytics ID leads to website 'voj[dot]news' hosted on the same "cass" and "luke" Cloudflare nameservers used for 'covid[dot]pk' (ref the PKNIC screenshot shared earlier).
Now here's the interesting part. Although a limited WHOIS lookup of 'voj[dot]news' mentions "Dedicated Queen" as Registrant and "Islamabad" as State, the contact number for any abuse cases is an Indian number "+912230797xxx" (redacted to avoid my tweet getting reported).
Before I proceed to share details of the Indian number, let's examine the domain 'voj[dot]news'.
The website calls itself 'Voice Of Journalists' with a basic Wordpress news-format layout. Archived copy of homepage as of 17 March 2020: archive.vn/qjVKK
It links to a Facebook page with 9,000+ likes created in March 2013 (two years before the website domain was even registered) with a rather silly tagline 'To help connect journalists and journalistic views on a same location'. Archived copy: archive.vn/zHSQZ
The Twitter account of VOJ was also created in March 2013. Archived copy: archive.vn/xTwqR
The 'Contact Us' section of VOJ mentions a number (redacted here) registered in the name of 'Noor Islam' of Swabi and on physical address: Office # 28, Excellence Tower, G9, Islamabad, Pakistan. Archived copy: archive.vn/Q6Dvk
Upon further reverse-lookup, the contact number for VOJ is also mentioned for Kings Construction (Pvt) Ltd based in Hayatabad, Peshawar. Archived copy: archive.vn/IA583
Lookup through SECP and FBR portals confirmed that the common owner is Mr Kashif Ahmad Khan (links to both Kings Construction and Voice of Journalists).
Mr Khan is apparently a PhD researcher at FAST-NUCES. Social media profiles not being shared intentionally to avoid trolling/harassment.
Now coming to the Indian number mentioned for domain contact abuse queries; just to be clear, as the domain for VOJ was purchased through 'Public Domain Registry (PDR)', it maintains an office in Mumbai. Nothing unusual about it. Source: archive.vn/NtUE4
The specific Indian number registered for abuse issues is the property of Directi group established in 1998 in Mumbai, India which operates several Internet domain registration/management businesses (commercially). Has nothing to do with VOJ's workings.
The hidden link between 'Covid-19[dot]pk' and 'voj[dot]news' (rather the only giveaway) is the Google Analytics account whose beneficiary is Mr Kashif Ahmad Khan of Peshawar. Complete details will be shared with authorities concerned, if requested (through DMs).
In conclusion, it is requested that online forums other than those officially endorsed/operated by the federal and provincial authorities should be ignored and reported. For scans of similar unofficial/dubious forums, you're welcome to tag me. [End]
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