FBI Thwarts ISIS Daesh's Connections With Website Hacking in the US, Canada and Ireland
Websites in the United States, Canada and Ireland have been hacked by alleged supporters of the extremists ISIS Daesh, as per reports. But initial investigations by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement and security experts showed the individuals have no direct relations to the group troubling and currently creating havoc in the Middle East.
A report by the AFP said supporters of the radical terrorists defaced a number of websites, including a race car speedway in the state of Ohio, a Goodwill centre in Missouri and a church in Canada, with the group’s black flag. The website of Ireland’s Dublin Rape Crisis Centre likewise had the same thing. Apart from the black ISIS flag, the words “hacked by ISIS, we are everywhere” were also splattered on the screens. A Flash audio plugin was also placed, playing a song in Arabic.
"All of a sudden, our website was taken over by a hacker that took over a header stating that the website was now under the control of the Islamic State," Eldora Speedway General Manager Roger Slack told NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati. Aware of the incidents, the FBI said it has started “contacting the impacted parties.”
Gary Coons, chief of Indianapolis' Division of Homeland Security, downplayed to NBC station WTHR any direct threat posed by the alleged ISIS Daesh supporters. Even Evan Kohlmann of Flashpoint Intelligence, a global security firm and NBC News consultant, belied any connections. Initial investigations revealed the defacements were just done by ordinary hackers who wanted to use the ISIS Daesh for more impact and “as a means of attracting media attention."
A closer inspection revealed all the affected websites were built on the WordPress blogging platform. A Twitter post by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre hinted the attack was directed more towards WordPress.
Hi all just to say drcc website wasn't hacked specifically it was a wordpress hack. Thankfully we've now been able to remove the banner!
- Dublin Rape Crisis (@DublinRCC) March 9, 2015Some of the websites hacked by the alleged ISIS Daesh supporters include MERS Goodwill; digital agency Elasticity; Montauk Manor, a condominium complex on New York's Long Island; Backbar, a ritzy cocktail bar in Somerville, Massachusetts; and, North Douglas Pentecostal Church in Saanich, British Columbia.
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