KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) successfully regained control of its official Facebook and Twitter accounts within three hours after they were hacked earlier today.
At around 5.30pm, PDRM said on Twitter that both accounts were restored at 4.40pm and are now operating as usual.
Shortly before, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed to reporters that experts were investigating the hacking of the force’s two social media accounts.
Earlier, police spokesman Datin Asmawati Ahmad had confirmed in a statement that the two accounts were hacked by self-described group “Anon Ghost” at 2.20pm.
In messages posted on the Facebook social network, the hackers expressed support for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and changed the cover photo of the page to one claiming “Khilafah has returned”, ostensibly meaning the return of the caliphate.
The attack was acknowledged by PDRM via its Twitter account shortly after the messages began appearing on Facebook.
“Please be informed that the official PDRM Facebook page has been hacked by irresponsible parties. Any information issued forthwith is false,” the police force said on Twitter.
“Twitter too,” a police spokesman later confirmed after posts mirroring those appearing on Facebook began appearing on the micro-blogging site.
