Persistant "activation required" am I hacked???

A few days ago I was browsing the internet using safari when suddenly my iPad went to the default screen saying that activation is required. I entered my password etc. and then the iPad was ok.

But, I had my suspicions so I changed my apple password from another computer. Then I restored the iPad to factory settings then restored an older iPad backup thru iTunes.

That seemed to work but then...

Today the "activation required" issue came back for no reason.

I've read a few articles about this being a "legitimate" hack... but it's the internet so who knows what's true.

1) Is there a solution?

2) Is this a real hack, or an Apple iOS issue?

3) Has anyone else experienced this?