Reports said that the first hacking attempt left the website with a message in a foreign language. An image of the message had also been posted by some users.

The claims added that the ministry’s IT wing immediately set about restoring the website and managed to get it up and running after while.

A few hours later, the website was attacked again, this time leaving it out of order, the reports said. They added that the the ministry had been unable to get the website up and running again.

However, a source in National Telecome Cooperation has explained that the foreign language message seen by users is actually a captcha in response to unusual traffic.

The source added that the message translates to, “Your computer or network may be sending an automatic access request. To continue access, please enter the following leters.”

The NTC, which handles the websites of many government departments, said that the issue in accessing the Aviation Ministry’s site was on the user’s end. The source said that the website was never compromised in any way.

Many government websites have been the subject of cyber attacks in the past, including the website of the Supreme Court earlier this year.