Has the Indonesian government taken over one of Malaysia's most prestigious universities? By the look of Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) website, this seems to be the case.

In reality, the content in the website of the Penang-based university has been hacked and one IT expert claims it could have happened more than two weeks ago.

The website, which contains information on the university and its courses, now has a page which features an Indonesian flag, a photograph of the nation's first president, Sukarno, and a host of unflattering remarks about Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Using the name 'Ndowed', the hacker attacked the premier over the government's manner in handling the issue of illegal Indonesian workers.

Written in Bahasa Indonesia under the title 'Gerakan Ganyang Malaysia' (Crush Malaysia Movement), the hacker, among other derogatory remarks, said Abdullah 'behaved like a child and took things away from people'.

Malaysia recently launched a nationwide dragnet on illegal immigrants after an amnesty period expired. The migrant workers, who are predominantly Indonesians, face stiff punishment, including whipping, if arrested.

Could it be an inside job?

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Malaysian who has lived in Indonesia for more than 15 years, said the hacker used a 'broken Javanese dialect'.

Meanwhile, an IT expert consulted by malaysiakini said there is a possibility that the content could have been changed by USM insiders.

"I think the website was tampered with between Feb 14-15," said the expert and if his deduction proves to be true, it raises the question as to why the problem remains unfixed until today.

However, the offensive content of the page had been removed when malaysiakini checked the website at 6pm.

USM's IT personnel were unable to shed any light on the problem as when contacted for comment, they were said to be unavailable.