Police are investigating how hackers uploaded a jihadist message to the homepage of a local telecoms company late on Tuesday evening.
The message, uploaded to Melita’s homepage, was removed early yesterday morning after customers complained of not being able to access the website.
The message, which was displayed over a screenshot of a medieval Muslim army marching into battle, read: “I am Muslim and I love jihad. I love isis <3” [sic].
A company spokesman told Times of Malta the hacking had not affected the website’s core infrastructure and clients’ data had not been compromised.
The attack took social media by storm, with dozens of comments posted to Facebook and Twitter, some voicing concern while others laughing off the message as a practical joke, especially since Melita has often come under fire from irate customers.
Cybercrime analyst Steven Gauci said while it was hard to tell whether the message posed any genuine threat, it had all the hallmarks of a “hoax-hacking”.
I am Muslim and I love jihad. I love isis <3
“A message of real intent would normally not include the ‘<3’ heart symbol. I’m not saying this is definitely not a threat of some kind. But the way this was written seems to indicate it was just a joke by someone irresponsible,” Dr Gauci, who has advised major US companies affected by hacking, said.
Last month graffiti threatening Christians with death was found scrawled on two bus stops on the same road in Qrendi but it was suspected to be fake.
The writing on the stone shelters situated along Triq il-Panorama between Ħaġar Qim and Wied iż-Żurrieq read: “Death to Christians 1-3-2015,” next to the word “Allah” in Arabic script.
“Allah” was also scribbled on the wall of the historic St Matthew chapel at Il-Maqluba in Qrendi and on a boundary wall of the Kirkop cemetery.
The police are investigating the matter but doubts were immediately raised about whether a native Arabic speaker could be behind the graffiti, since “Allah” appeared to be misspelt.
Will Abela, a Maltese-Egyptian translator, told Times of Malta the first letter of the word was too long and too low in relation to the others, and it appeared as though it had been stencilled.