Friday, Apr 21, 2017

Muscat: The educational portal belonging to Oman’s Ministry of Education has been restored after it was hacked.

The portal was restored and made operational again after it was hacked on Wednesday morning.

In a statement, the Ministry said that it will take action against the guilty party.

Article 276 of the Combating Cybercrime Law stipulates that anyone who illegally accesses and hacks a website, could face jail time of anywhere from three months to five years. They could also be fined between 100 riyals to 500 riyals.

On social media, users floated rumours and unsubstatiated reports that a student was behind the hack.

A user called ‘Star Boy’ earlier tweeted at the Ministry of Education asking them to improve the education system in the country.

The hashtag ‘Hacking of the Ministry of Education Portal’ was trending with users discussing the incident.

Some users believed authorities should help the hacker cultivate his/her skills for their own use.

“He can help protect Omani institutions from hackers in the future,” Abeer Al Zadjali wrote.

Khalifa Sal Hinai, another user, said sarcastically that punishing the hacker would be easier than trying to improve the country’s education system.In 2014, five government websites, including the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and the General Directorate of Traffic, were hacked.

Local media reported that the hacker was a 14-year-old who called himself Dr Darkness.

He said he hacked the TRA website to express his displeasure over the high costs and poor services provided by telecom companies.

sTelecommunication expert Nasser Al Beloushi told Gulf News that some government websites are vulnerable to hacking as they do not have strong enough defences. He said the TRA should improve its protection systems, better its electronic surveillance and also take precautions to thwart future attacks.

Fahad Al Mukrashi, Correspondent

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