Just days after the U.S. killed Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force; hackers purporting to be from Iran reportedly defaced a U.S. government website.
The hackers posted a picture of a bloodied President Donald Trump being punched in the face as well as pro-Iran messages.
This was after Iran had promised “harsh revenge” on the U.S. for the killing of Soleimani; who has been blamed for attacks on U.S troops and American allies dating back decades.
The homepage for the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program was briefly changed on Saturday, January 4.
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It included a message that said: “Hacked by Iran Cuber Security Group Hackers. This is only small part of Iran’s cyber ability! We’re always ready.”
The website could not be accessed shortly after the image of Trump appeared. It remained down in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sara Sendek, a spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security, said the source of the hack could not yet be confirmed.
“We are aware the website of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was defaced with pro-Iranian, anti-US messaging,” Sendek said in a statement.
“At this time, there is no confirmation that this was the action of Iranian state-sponsored actors. The website was taken offline and is no longer accessible.”
Apparent hacking by an #Iran-linked group of a US government website (the little-known Federal Depository Library Program). https://t.co/r47ODmt4Pw is currently offline. pic.twitter.com/8dx7EDUZvu
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 5, 2020
Gary Somerset, the chief public relations officer for the U.S. Government Publishing Office, which runs the Federal Depository Library Program website; confirmed that the website had been taken down shortly after the hack was detected.
“We are coordinating with the appropriate authorities to investigate further,” he said.
Meanwhile, the death of Soleimani has gotten political analysts predicting retaliatory attacks by Iran.
This spurred Trump to issue a warning that if Iran retaliates; he won’t hesitate to launch another attack.
“The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World!” Trump tweeted on Saturday.
The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
“If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!”
