SINGAPORE — A hacker claiming to be part of the Anonymous collective broke into The Straits Times website yesterday morning, two days after the group purportedly posted a YouTube video threatening to attack the Singapore Government.

The hacker, who went by the moniker “The Messiah”, said the attack was prompted by a “misleading” report published on the newspaper’s website.

The person also demanded that grievances be addressed in a few recent incidents, including a baby-scalding accident at a PAP Community Foundation childcare centre early last month.

“The Messiah” had previously claimed responsibility for the hacking of a few local websites this year, including that of the PCF and Ang Mo Kio Town Council.

A spokesperson for Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times and its websites, said the company has made a police report about the incident.

“We have taken down the affected blogs. We have made a police report and the police are investigating.”

A police spokesperson confirmed that the report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.

In a report, the Straits Times quoted an SPH spokesman as saying that the paper stands by its reports and reporters. The spokesperson, however, did not respond to TODAY’s queries on whether any subscriber data had been compromised.

The online community was quick to respond to the attack. A Facebook page, Singaporeans Speak Out Against “Anonymous”, was set up hours after the incident to “denounce the approach” of the hacking. It drew over 200 likes.

Among those who criticised the attack was website The Breakfast Network, which said: “Abrasive and uncompromising as we might be as netizens of Singapore, it is unlikely that we would advocate the kinds of tactics you endorse.”

Of the eight people TODAY interviewed, only one approved of the hacking.

“People’s thoughts are always getting filtered so it’s good to see them express (them) freely. If no one cares about freedom, then this wouldn’t have gotten so much attention,” said Mr Ricardo Sentosa, a 30-year-old businessman.

Mr Alfred Wan, 22, said the actions of the hacker had no “transparency or accountability”.

“Singaporeans are citizens of our homeland, hence any opinion that is to be brought across to the Government needs to be by Singaporeans, and with a degree of accountability which a mask does not, in any way, allow for,” said the National University of Singapore undergraduate.