A number of U.S. government Websites were hacked by Islamic State (IS) supporters. The hackers left messages on the hacked websites including one that blamed President Donald Trump.
One of the hacked websites belonged to Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich where the blame against Trump was posted. The whole message reads: “You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries.” The hackers called themselves Team System DZ and left their Facebook page on the bottom of the website in an attempt to interest IS followers.
Aside from that of Kasich’s website, other government websites such as that of first lady Karen Kasich, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Medicaid, and the Casino Control Commission were also hacked. Per Tom Hoyt, the chief communications officer for Ohio’s Department of Administrative Services said that they have the situation contained as they took the hacked servers offline. They also started a probe on how the hacks took place.
Other areas affected by the hack
Other government websites were affected by the hack such as that of Brookhaven, New York and Howard County in Maryland. The IS supporters posted pro-militant messages. These affected websites were also down and it remains unknown when they will be back up and running.
Team System DZ also claimed responsibility for these hacks as well as the similar hacks in the past that took place in Richland County in Wisconsin. Other countries also suffered hacks from the group including Aberdeen, Scotland, and Sweden.
Who are Team System DZ
According to CBS News, the website called Cryptosphere, which tracks hackers worldwide, dozens of hacks were made by Team System DZ.
They are reportedly in Algeria. This information, however, has not been confirmed yet.
Raqqa taken back from Islamic State
Meanwhile, on other IS-related news, U.S.-backed Syrian troops including Kurdish and Arab groups were able to take back Raqqa, the country’s capital from the terror group. The troops started to make moves in an attempt to reclaim the capital earlier this June.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes in and around Raqqa killed almost 700 civilians just this year. The U.S.-backed coalition pointed out they worked hard to avoid killing civilians as they attempted to take back Raqqa. After the capital was taken back by the aforementioned troops, the threat against the civilians still remains.
