Imigresen Malaysia earlier today published a notice on its Twitter and Facebook page to inform the public that its website is currently offline due to maintenance. While there is nothing really suspicious about the notice at first, it turned out that the website may have been shut down due to a security incident.
According to Google’s cache that was captured at around 5:15 AM Malaysian time today, the home page of Imigresen Malaysia’s website has been taken down and was replaced by this page instead:
Aside from implying that the site defacement was done “just for fun”, the hacker CaptainSmok3r has also left a message in Persian. When we put the quote through Google Translate, this is what it apparently means:
“To the health of the rule that he taught, if you are single, you are higher than the king.”
Given that the maintenance notice was posted by Imigresen Malaysia on its Facebook at 7:40 AM, this seemed like the probable cause. While this may look like another common case of website defacement, it may have tainted the department’s image slightly further.
In addition to the fact that the site has been hacked and defaced, anyone who searched for Imigresen Malaysia on Google right now can still see the aftermath of the defacement made by CaptainSmok3r:
From what we have seen so far, the damage may have been limited just to the department’s website. Our quick check showed that its e-Services which include online passport application and travel blacklist checker (SSPI) are still accessible to the public.
Meanwhile, Imigresen has also advised the public to utilize its online enquiry system (SPO) if there is a need to reach out to the department. At the time this article is published, it has yet to announce when exactly the website will be back online once again.
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