National security fears as Bahamas tourism website hacked

It was revealed yesterday that the website of the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism had been hacked into – creating “enormous national security implications” for the multi-island state.

According to an article posted on Tribune 242, members of the House of Assembly were set to debate several Bills which would allow for oil exploration and drilling in the country.{{more}}

However, with the news of the compromised website, the afternoon session was suspended until May 20, so that Cabinet ministers could discuss the implications of the hacking.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie did not give details on the nature of the alleged national security threat, but suggested that it has implications for the country’s reputation. Christie also pointed out that a similar incident had happened in another Caribbean country recently.

Earlier this month, SEARCHLIGHT reported that the official website of the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines had been hacked by an entity claiming to be Islamic State hackers.

Persons visiting the website on Sunday, May 3 sometime between 7:45 and 9:20 p.m., were stunned to discover that the usual landing page had been hijacked and replaced with an image of an individual operating a machine gun from the back of a truck – with an accompanying ‘Hacked by Moroccanwolf – Islamic State’ message.