The Quebec provincial police are investigating how a small town’s website was hacked by an Islamic extremist group.
The Middle East Cyber Army, a group claiming to have links with ISIS, took over the homepage for Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a municipality of less than 2,000 just west of Montreal, overnight on Thursday.
The web page displayed a message promoting Allah and made reference to the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.
The town’s officials said Terrasse-Vaudreuil was not directly targeted . Director General Ron Kelley said there is no explanation why the group would choose to hack their site.
“There is no reason. We have no conflicts here in the municipality,” said Kelley. “Everything is calm, it’s a charming place, and to be in the news for this it’s not something we really desire, but there’s no reason.”
Kelley also assured residents that personal information was never at risk, because the server that contained all the confidential information from citizens was never attacked.
The town’s regular web site was restored early Friday morning.
