the homepage of the hacked website changed to a black background and presented a mocked-up image of a lizard with a top hat complete with a monocle and a smoking pipe.
the homepage of the hacked website changed to a black background and presented a mocked-up image of a lizard with a top hat complete with a monocle and a smoking pipe.Screenshot

The official Malaysia Airlines website has been hacked by a group claiming to be the supporters of the militant extremist group ISIS.

People logging into the official website of Malaysian Airlines early on Monday morning were initially presented with an image of a Malaysia Airlines Airbus with a message that read "404 - Plane Not Found".

"Hacked by Lizard Squad – Official Cyber Caliphate," the hacked front page of the website further said.

People logging in to the official website of the Malaysian Airlines on early Monday were initially presented with an image of a Malaysia Airlines Airbus with a message that read
People logging in to the official website of the Malaysian Airlines on early Monday were initially presented with an image of a Malaysia Airlines Airbus with a message that read "404—Plane Not Found".Screenshot

A few hours later, the homepage of the hacked website changed to a black background and presented a morphed image of a lizard with a hat, a monocle and a smoking pipe.

Users browsing the page were also directed to a Twitter page "@lizardmafia," which featured mostly 'silly' and ridiculous-sounding tweets.

There has been no official confirmation as to who exactly was responsible for the breach but the hacking instance comes after over 10 months of confusion and frenzy following the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines aircraft, flight MH370, which vanished with no trail in the wee hours of 8 March last year carrying 239 people on board.

The airline later confirmed the hacking and said that the matter had been reported to the cyber security. The official twitter handle earlier provided a separate link for customers to check details regarding the flights.

The Malaysian Airlines statement posted on its official Facebook page read:

"Malaysia Airlines confirms that its Domain Name System (DNS) has been compromised where users are re-directed to a hacker website where www.malaysiaairlines.com URL is keyed in.

At this stage, Malaysia Airlines' web servers is intact.

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."