The Malaysia Airlines Web site was yesterday commandeered by hackers who referenced the Islamic State group and claimed to be from the Lizard Squad, a group known for previous denial-of-service attacks.
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 Web site were redirected to another page bearing an image of a lizard wearing a tuxedo and the message: “Hacked by LIZARD SQUAD — OFFICIAL CYBER CALIPHATE.”
Photo: Reuters
It also carried the headline “404 — Plane Not Found,” an apparent reference to the lost Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last year with 239 people aboard, which tipped the already struggling carrier into crisis.
Media reports said versions of the Web site takeover in some regions included the wording “ISIS [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] will prevail.”
Malaysia Airlines released a statement confirming its Internet domain name had been compromised, redirecting users.
“At this stage, Malaysia Airlines’ Web servers are intact,” it said, but added it could take nearly 24 hours to fully resolve the issue, which it had reported to Malaysian authorities. “Malaysia Airlines assures customers and clients that its Web site was not hacked and this temporary glitch does not affect their bookings and that user data remains secured.”
The Lizard Squad is a group of hackers that has caused havoc before, claiming responsibility for attacks that took down Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live network last month.
The extent of any links with the Islamic State group — formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — are not yet known.
The extremist group has seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq in a brutal campaign and declared an independent Islamic “caliphate.” It also has used social media to recruit members and spread its message.
The group has prompted widespread revulsion with its video-taped executions of journalists and other foreigners.
On Sunday, it claimed to have beheaded a Japanese security contractor. A second Japanese captive has also been threatened with execution.
Concerns over the Islamic State group have spiked in Malaysia after scores of its citizens were lured to fight with the group in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Malaysian authorities last week said they have detained 120 people suspected of having sympathies with the extremist group or planning to travel to Syria.
The unexplained loss of Flight MH370 and the airlines’ poor crisis-handling in the aftermath of the disappearance severely damaged public confidence in the carrier, sending it into a steep decline.
It has since been taken over by a Malaysian government investment fund aiming to rescue the company.
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