Terrasse-Vaudreuil’s website one of many hacked

Terry Cutler founder of Digital LocksmithsA group calling itself the Middle East Cyber Army claiming to have connections with Islamic extremists left its calling card on the homepage of the Terrasse-Vaudreuil’s website in Île-Perrot this week, but it was just one of many hit-and-miss hacks without teeth.

The message left on the website’s home page said the group works for Allah, and that Islam “always will dominate.”

It is highly doubted the hack was anything more than the result of a random search for web servers with lower security requirements.

It was probably a search on a search engine, that came up with a specific version of a web server or specific code inside someone’s website. Once that happens the group or person could have launched a script and tried to compromise “hundreds of thousands” of websites in one swoop.

“They did a search, saw all these vulnerable websites, and thought ‘let’s go deface everybody and try to get our name out there,’ ” said Terry Cutler, who founded Montreal-based IT security firm Digital Locksmiths.

It’s a problem, he said, that plagues small businesses and municipalities alike: thinking they’re too small to be the target of an attack, he told the Montreal Gazette.

“It’s what we hear 99 percent of the time,” he said.

“Even if Terrasse-Vaudreuil wasn’t targeted specifically, it can still look bad to the public.”

See more of Terry Cutler’s opinion on CTV News

See more of Terry Cutler’s opinion on CBC news

See more of Terry Cutler’s opinion on Global News Montreal

 

 

Terry Cutler

Terry Cutler

Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Digital Locksmiths, Inc.
Terry Cutler is the founder of Digital Locksmiths, Inc. - an IT security and data defense firm based in Montreal - and serves as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Terry is a Certified Ethical Hacker who has learned the mindset of hackers and trained in the techniques of "the bad guys" who seek to do harm to corporations and individuals alike.He is responsible for staying on top of the latest trends in cybersecurity and being an advocate for best practices in the identification and eradication of vulnerabilities that leave the customers of Digital Locksmiths susceptible to the most dangerous threats.Another one of Terry's roles is to be a thought leader for Digital Locksmiths by sharing his expert insights about effective digital security strategies and countermeasures through his writings, speaking engagements, and media interviews.

Connect with Terry on Google +
Terry Cutler

Latest posts by Terry Cutler (see all)