US: Pro-IS message appears on Ohio government websites

The hacking of the websites was claimed to have been done by "Team System Dz", a group of "anti-Israeli Arab teenagers."

Washington, June 26: Several government websites in the US state of Ohio were apparently hacked to broadcast an anti-government and pro-Islamic State (IS) message, the media reported.

"You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries," said the message on Sunday, which was left by "Team System Dz", Xinhua news agency reported

The affected websites included Ohio Governor John Kasich's office, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the Ohio Office of Workforce Transformation, the Ohio Office of Health Transformation, the Ohio Inspector General and the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

The affected sites' homepages were replaced with the same black background accompanied by music. By noon (1 p.m), all of the affected sites appeared to no longer be online.

"As soon as we were notified of the situation we immediately began to correct it and will continue to monitor until fully resolved," said a spokesperson for the Governor's office in a statement issued on Sunday afternoon.

"We are investigating how these hackers were able to deface these websites. We also are working with law enforcement to better understand what happened," said the Ohio Department of Administrative Services in another statement.

USA Today reported that "Team System Dz" is actually a group of "anti-Israeli Arab teenagers." It has hacked numerous random websites such as the University of New Brunswick's student union site and a Canadian food truck's sandwich site.

IANS