US Government Websites Hacked By ISIS Propaganda

Shreesha Ghosh

International Business TimesJune 26, 2017

Government websites, many of them in Ohio, were hacked with a message supportive of the Islamic State group, June 25, 2017. In this photo, a projection of cyber code on a hooded man is pictured in this illustration picture taken May 13, 2017.

Several government websites, including that of Long Island, New York, the Ohio state government and the Ohio Gov. John Kasich, were hacked Sunday to display propaganda with a message that supports the Islamic State group (also called ISIS), according to reports.

A message on Kasich’s website said: "You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries," according to local ABC affiliate WKYC. His website also displayed an Arabic message from the group and played a call to Islamic prayer.

The message was visible under a banner that read: "Hacked By Team System DZ," and at the bottom of the pages said: "I love Islamic State." A website link to the System Dz Facebook page was included along with the messages, which have since been removed and the entire website has been taken down for "maintenance."

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The message was displayed on several government websites like in the town of Brookhaven, New York, a website for Howard County, Maryland, as well as the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Medicaid, Casino Control Commission, and the Ohio Office of Workforce Transformation. It even infiltrated Ohio state’s first lady’s website along with its governor’s.

Tom Hoyt, chief communications officer for Ohio's Department of Administrative Services confirmed the hack and said: "All affected servers have been taken offline and we are investigating how these hackers were able to deface these websites."

"We also are working with law enforcement to better understand what happened," Hoyt added.

Hoyt said the hacking in Ohio occurred around 11 a.m. E.D.T. and he hoped the affected websites would be back up and running by Monday.

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel took to Twitter on Sunday, following the hack and condemned the actions.

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith claimed in a statement that the government agency was aware of the hack, according to Cleveland.com.

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"We are aware of the situation and we are working aggressively to correct the situation," Smith's statement said. "A thorough investigation will be conducted to determine how this occurred and how it can be prevented in the future."

The hacked websites were made offline Sunday soon after the offending messages appeared on the web pages. The websites in Brookhaven and Howard County were down on Sunday, however a spokeswoman for the New York town’s police department, when asked about the incident, responded with a "no comment," according to the Associated Press. Howard County stated it was aware of the hack.

The pro-ISIS hacking group has also claimed responsibility for hacks in the past in Richland County, Wisconsin, and in places such as Aberdeen in Scotland, as well as in Sweden. They have also been responsible for several other similar hacks in recent months in websites across Israel, France and other countries.

Authors of the website "Cryptosphere," that investigates and tracks hackers around the world, called the Team System Dz a "pro-ISIS hacker crew" and stated they are based in Algeria. Crytosphere have discovered dozens of similar cyberattacks by the group in the recent years. They said the past attacks affected a number of websites on WordPress, a synagogue in Florida and the student union at the University of New Brunswick in Canada.

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