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Monday, November 6, 2017

Gloucester school website host hacked by pro-ISIS group

The Gloucester County Public School website looks normal now, but early Monday, it bore an image of Saddam Hussein, a video in Arabic and the statement, "I love the Islamic State," according to Jim Brogan, director of technology services for Gloucester schools.

It was one of hundreds of school websites affected by a nationwide hack of School Desk, an Atlanta-based company that services about 800 school websites, Brogan said.

"It was pretty vanilla," Brogan said, describing the website's imagery after it was taken over. He said the screen was black with English and Arabic text, along with the picture of Hussein, a former president of Iraq, and the video, which he thought was of a former Saudi Arabian king. He noted that he couldn't read the Arabic or understand the video.

The Gloucester website was back to normal by 7 a.m., and it was restored by School Desk, Brogan said. "We're good," Brogan said.

Superintendent Walter Clemons sent out an all call to all Gloucester school parents to inform them of the incident.

The website takeover was first reported to the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office, who contacted Clemons around 2 a.m. Clemons called Brogan soon after, and Brogan called School Desk, but their phone line was not answered at the time.

Brogan said School Desk later reached out to him and contacted the Department of Homeland Security.

Gloucester is the only school division in Virginia that uses School Desk, according to the company's website.

On pages across the country, a group called Team System DZ claimed credit for the hack. The group hacked Isle of Wight's county government website in January 2015 and has been blamed for other attacks.

Ryan Murphy, rmurphy@dailypress.com | 757-247-4760

Brogan and said no student records or other information is at risk. Clemons said that information is separate from the school website. The school division also contacted private security to ensure the website is safe.

"They're frustrated," Brogan said of School Desk. "Someone bypassed their security."

Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692. Follow him on Twitter @jdauzreyes.


Source: Gloucester school website host hacked by pro-ISIS group

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