Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace says he does not believe that the hacking of the government’s website on the weekend was actually carried out by Islamic State, as a posting on the landing page of the website on Sunday suggested.
“I heard that the government website was hacked by ISIS but I don’t believe that. I don’t believe ISIS hacked any website. Somebody pointed out to me that same picture was on Facebook not too long ago, so something was done here. That’s my belief. There are others who might have more information than I have, but that’s the information I have,” Eustace told listeners to his weekly radio programme on Monday.
Visitors to the website were greeted by a message saying “Hacked By Moroccanwolf – Islamic State” and a photo of man firing a machine gun from the back of a pick-up truck.
A message appearing on the website says US and NATO Forces are involved in “Organised butchery of Human race since it’s (sic) inception”.
Internet consultant Ayodele Pompey in a post on LinkedIn on Monday (republished on I-Witness News) said, “Understandably, there is a bit of panic as persons are not sure what is affected and how this breach of ‘national security’ will affect the country or their own systems”.
Pompey, however, expressed doubt that Islamic State had in fact hacked the website.
“It is very highly unlikely that ISIS targeted St. Vincent and the Grenadines (you can wipe the sweat from your forehead). The hacker is most likely what we call a script kiddie. These are young upcoming hackers who just hack for fun and fame,” Pompey said.
While the website was accessible and hacked, the landing page also including a message, purportedly from the Islamist rebel group that claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide.
The government is yet to comment on the development, but a government spokesman told I-Witness News Monday evening that officials were discussing the development and will issues a statement “soon”.
The website has been offline since Sunday evening.