Terrorism

Pro-ISIS group defaced US Government websites in 3 states

Several government websites were hacked by a pro-ISIS group that is calling itself Team System DZ, including those of the Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Several government websites in Ohio and Maryland, including the one belonging to Ohio Governor John Kasich, had to be shut down Sunday after being defaced by pro-ISIS hackers. The hackers breached the websites and published messages supporting the Islamic State group.

The message posted on Kasich’s website also played an Islamic call to prayer.

The Kasich website (www.governor.ohio.gov) was taken offline on Sunday, now it is up and running again.

pro-isis group defacementpro-isis group defacement

The hackers belong to a group that is calling itself Team System DZ, the group targeted the websites in as retaliation for the politic of the US President Donald Trump.

“You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries,” “I Love Islamic state.” states the message posted by the group. 

The hackers have written the message in gold lettering on a black background.

The hackers also published the basic statement of the Islamic faith written in Arabic:

“there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.”

Tom Hoyt, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, said all affected servers were “taken offline” and law enforcement is investigating the cyberattacks.

“We also are working with law enforcement to better understand what happened,” Hoyt said.

Hackers also targeted a website for Howard County, Maryland.

“There was no breach of data and no personal information was compromised,” according to a statement from Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman. “Howard County government is working with law enforcement agencies and an investigation is underway. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

“Government websites in Ohio, Maryland and New York have been hacked with what appears to be pro-ISIS propaganda.” reported the CNN.

“On Sunday, visitors to governor.ohio.gov were greeted with a black background and an Arabic symbol while an Islamic call to prayer played in the background.”
The official website for the Town of Brookhaven, New York, also was hacked and hackers published the same messages appeared on the other websites targeted by the pro-ISIS group.

Some of the websites are still down at the time I was writing.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – pro-isis group, defacement)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.

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