KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — The Royal Malaysian Police’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have been compromised by hackers.
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.
Both accounts remain under the control of the hackers.
The message stating support for the IS was accompanied by a photograph of what appears to be militants with the group marching.
Later messages suggest that the hackers are local, with one message in Malay proclaiming “Hidup Dr M (Long live Dr M)” and cautioning a minister not to “back up” his cousin.
A subsequent message warned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, “we are coming to you”.
One message stated simply that “#Anonghost was here”, in reference to the individual in apparent control of the Facebook account.
The hacker also disavowed links to the Internet group Anonymous, saying that they did not share the same goals or the latter group’s technical prowess.
“We are the sound of the forgotten people, the freedom fighter in the cyberworld and our main target is Sionisme and israhell, if you are asking why your website got hacked by us, its basically because we want to share our message and show the world who we are, we are not looking for fame but we have a goal to achieve we supporte all hackers teams and we supporte all the freedom mouvement in the world,” the hackers posted on the page.
A separate message listed down screen names of others purportedly part of the attack.
The PDRM has in recent months arrested several individuals with links to the Middle Eastern terrorist group either for attempting to join the IS or conduct attacks locally as part of the group’s plan to reintroduce a global Islamic caliphate.
Last week, two IS-linked Malaysians were arrested for plotting acts of terrorism in the Klang Valley.
In early April, police said they nabbed 17 individuals during a secret meeting to plot the kidnap of high profile-figures, to attack places in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and the Klang Valley.
In late April, local police nabbed 12 suspected militants while they were planning to test explosives in a Hulu Langat jungle and seized bomb-making materials during the arrest.
To date, at least 100 individuals suspected of militant activities have been nabbed by local police.
