Ministry of Housing site hacked

Social network users consider the hacking of the Housing Ministry website as an indirect message to the ministry about the housing crisis Saudi citizens face. The ministry’s website was disabled throughout the day on Thursday.
Mohammad Al-Zmei’, secretary general for the Ministry of Housing for Planning and Research, said the ministry has many projects that will meet the aspirations of Saudis, but they still need some time to be implemented.
“The hacked website is hosted by a local company, which makes running the site its responsibility not ours. The website is devoted to news and social communication between citizens. It has been disabled until investigations are completed and the cause of hacking determined. Any security loopholes that might result in future hacking need to be tackled,” said the official spokesman.
Hacking attempts against official websites sometimes happen despite security precautions, stressed Al-Zmei’.
“It is important to maintain information; we should benefit from these attacks to close any loopholes in the system, take precautions to stop any future attacks and continue working to develop the site and increase the level of security and credibility,” he said.
Al-Zmei’ said the hacking attempt was restricted to changing the main page, without affecting its other sections. Other electronic apparatuses of the Ministry and the website for housing loans applications from the Land Development Fund are independent from the hacked website, he said.
Al-Zmei’ said the new housing website has been completed and developed by a company that specializes in information security, but it hasn’t been launched yet. The new website is hosted by the National Information Center, and will have high security levels. It will start receiving applications for housing support as soon as the new merit mechanism is approved.
Many twitter users criticized the ministry’s performance after the hacking; saying its transformation from a commission to a ministry didn’t meet their expectations.
They said the time has come for the Ministry of Housing to clarify its position and announce obstacles that obstruct the goals which were set by the national housing strategy. The ministry should meet its biggest challenge which is represented in building of 500,000 residential units, which were ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.