BUT WAS IT A 'STANDBY' STATEMENT: Hoax of Najib’s ‘resignation’ posted on govt website

PUTRAJAYA- A posting on the Information Department's official website announcing the resignation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday morning was a hoax.

In clarifying that the department had never released any statement announcing that Najib had resigned, the department's director-general Datuk Ibrahim Abdul Rahman said the false posting was the work of hackers.

The department was alerted to the "announcement" early today morning by a professor from Pahang.

"The hackers uploaded it around 6am and we deleted it at about 8.15am," said Ibrahim, who later lodged a police report on the cyber attack.

Two statements, Memo Permohonan Rakyat Malaysia and Perdana Menteri Secara Rasminya Meletak Jawatan were falsely posted on the e-Akhbar and e-Press sections of the website.

Ibrahim said preliminary investigations by the department indicated that the IP address used by the hackers was foreign.

"We've tracked down the IP address and it is not a local address," he told reporters after lodging a report at the Putrajaya district police headquarters today.

"It is foreign, but I will not mention the country because we believe the hackers can scramble their IP address.

He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was aware of the attack and have started investigations.

"We have also informed the Prime Minister's Department," said Ibrahim, who described the cyber attack as a "desperate measure" by certain quarters to tarnish the reputation of the government and the department.

"It seems that lately, there have been attacks against government websites although this is the first time that e-Akhbar and e-Press systems were hacked," he said.

On the possibility of an inside job behind the cyber attack, Ibrahim said action would be taken against anyone who tries to discredit the department.

He added that the department will beef up security and look for loopholes in its system.

Meanwhile, Putrajaya police chief ACP Abdul Razak Abdul Majid said the police probe into the cyber attack will be handled by the Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID).

It is learnt that the CCID will also seek assistance from the MCMC in tracing the culprits behind the hacking.

The "news" had raised eyebrows after several web news portals, echoed the fake statements of Najib's alleged resignation posted on the department's website.

-thesundaily