Malaysia Airlines website 'compromised' by 'cyber caliphate' Lizard Squad hackers
Updated
The official Malaysia Airlines website has been compromised by Lizard Squad, a group calling itself the Official Cyber Caliphate.
It was not clear why the troubled airline was targeted but the hacking group said on its Twitter feed that it was "going to dump some loot found on malaysiaairlines.com servers soon."
Visitors to the website were re-directed to another page bearing an image of a tuxedo-wearing lizard, and reading "Hacked by Lizard Squad - Official Cyber Caliphate".
The page also carried the headline "404 - Plane Not Found", an apparent reference to the airlines' puzzling loss of flight MH370 last year with 239 people on board.
The hackers also listed three unverified Twitter account addresses and a recorded a rap song.
Media reports said versions of the takeover in some regions included the wording "ISIS will prevail".
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines confirmed its Internet domain name had been compromised, re-directing users.
"At this stage, Malaysia Airlines' web servers are intact," it said.
"Malaysia Airlines assures customers and clients that its website was not hacked and this temporary glitch does not affect their bookings and that user data remains secured."
But the airline reported to Malaysian authorities that it could take nearly 24 hours to fully resolve the issue.
The Lizard Squad is a group of hackers that has caused havoc in the online world before, taking credit for attacks that took down the Sony PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live network last month.
The extent of any links with the Islamic State, however, are not yet known.
Concerns over IS have spiked in Malaysia after scores of its citizens were lured to the Syrian jihad. Malaysian authorities last week said they have detained 120 people suspected of having IS sympathies or planning to travel to Syria.
Islamic State (IS), an extremist Sunni Muslim group, has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq, where it has declared an Islamic "caliphate".
It has drawn thousands of fighters from across the globe to its anti-Western cause, and shocked the world with its video-taped executions of journalists and other foreigners it has captured.
The most recent video released on Sunday claimed to have beheaded a Japanese security contractor. A second Japanese captive being held by the militants has also been threatened with execution.
The IS group, which uses social media in recruiting and spreading its message, is believed to harbour ambitions of launching a cyber-war against the West.
Reuters/AFP
Topics: information-and-communication, science-and-technology, computers-and-technology, internet-technology, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, air-and-space, malaysia
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