'404 - plane not found': Malaysia Airlines targeted by hackers proclaiming IS support
The website of struggling carrier Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from twin disasters last year, has been hacked by a group proclaiming support for the Islamic State group.
Website users who logged on on Monday morning were shown a page which said "404 - plane not found", in reference to the Malaysia Airlines missing MH370, which vanished last year as it travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The browser tab displayed the message "ISIS will prevail".
The page was later changed to show the "404 - plane not found" message - a play on words of the internet's "404 not found" message displayed when there are server issues - above a picture of a lizard wearing a monocle and smoking a pipe. The Islamic State reference was removed and the words "Hacked by LIZARD SQUAD - OFFICIAL CYBER CALIPHATE" added.
Malaysia Airlines flight 370 went missing on March 8 last year, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board. Search crews have spent almost a year hunting for wreckage of the plane, but no evidence of a crash site over the sea has been found.
The airline's woes were compounded in mid-July when flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine, killing all those on board.
The Lizard Squad group last year claimed it was behind attacks on Sony’s online PlayStation network.
"At this stage, Malaysia Airlines’ web servers are intact," the airline said in a statement.
"The airline has resolved the issue with its service provider and the system is expected to be fully recovered within 22 hours.
"The matter has also been immediately reported to CyberSecurity Malaysia and the Ministry of Transport.
"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."
