A group of self-proclaimed 'Muslum [sic] Hackers' has defaced a little known journey planner website for south-west England, possibly mistaking it for a major online travel hub.
The hacktivist group – which goes by the name “darkshadow” – attacked the TravelWest site, which does little more than provide bus and train timetables for the Bristol area, according to The Telegraph.
It apparently replaced the homepage with an ISIS-like black and white color scheme, Arabic music and script, and the message “Hacked By darkshadow” in English, alongside an email address and Facebook page.
That Facebook account lists the group’s location as Tunisian capital Tunis and the Ivory Coast.
Some outlets have speculated that the group targeted TravelWest thinking that it was a major travel website for the western world. However, many of the sites it appears to have gone after in the past are similarly small scale and relatively unknown.
That said, this hasn’t stopped the public from mocking the group via Facebook.
One typical recent message sarcastically asked darkshadow: “I wonder if you could tell me the time of the next bus from Truro to Penzance?”
Julia Dean – who heads up communications at the West of England Partnership (WEP), which runs travelwest.info – is quoted by The Telegraph as claiming: “Glad to report everything is now back up and working.”
However, the site was unavailable at the time of writing.
Charles Sweeney, CEO of web filtering firm Bloxx, argued the incident highlights that organizations of all sizes are at risk of online attack today.
"Big brand names have dominated the news agenda over the festive period, but this hack serves as a timely reminder that firms of all shapes and sizes are at risk from cyber-criminals. Yes, it was by mistake, but the question is, what is to stop this from happening to your company?” he told Infosecurity.
“Cyber-crime is a global problem and whether you're big or small, you need to make sure you have the right policies, procedures and systems in place to protect your company.”