The pastor of North Douglas Pentecostal Church in Saanich says he does not feel threatened after the church’s website was hacked by purported supporters of the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Rev. Rod Fair said an associate pastor discovered a message reading “Hacked by Islamic State (ISIS) We Are Everywhere” accompanied by an emoticon, Arabic script, music and a banner on top of the website’s template. There was also a Facebook address and a flag.
The hackers posted their banner over the church website template, so no matter what page visitors tried, the banner was at the top.
A logo written in Arabic read “There is no God, but God,” according to a U.S. media report.
Surprised by the message, Fair went online and quickly found what sounded like similar hacks “all over the place, wherever they could find a place to break into.”
U.S. media have reported that the FBI is investigating a string of hacks with the same message.
Echoing U.S. law-enforcement officials, Fair said it’s unlikely the hack was actually from ISIS, adding he did not think the church website was targeted in particular.
The hack could be from a group seeking attention, he said, or pranksters having a contest to see how many sites they could break into.
The Israeli publication Arutz Sheva said the FBI is investigating hacks of websites ranging from “a church in Canada” to a speedway in Ohio, a Goodwill center in Missouri and Dublin’s Rape Crisis Centre. It’s unclear what church it is referring to.
“The FBI is aware of these reported incidents and is contacting the impacted parties,” a spokesperson from the FBI told U.S. media on Saturday.
“Attacks against similar low-profile websites were also recorded in Montana, New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota.”
A security analyst told NBC News that it was unlikely the hacks had any “real connection” to ISIS, Arutz Shiva said.
The North Douglas Pentecostal Church website was taken down Saturday evening and will be reinstated with upgraded security, Fair said.
“You have to keep security up to date. We will work on a redesign and refresh our website,” he said. “If the hackers really know what they’re doing, they can probably break into any site.”
The church website now says it is undergoing maintenance.
