Hackers Claiming to be ISIS Attack Somerville’s Backbar Website
Recent videos of the Islamist terrorist organization setting piles of cigarettes and alcohol aflame gave us a pretty good idea where the group stands on imbibing, but a hack on the website of a Somerville cocktail bar Saturday only drove the point home further.
The website for Backbar, the Union Square cocktail outpost only slightly harder to find than a terrorist cell, was hacked earlier this afternoon by a group purporting to be ISIS. While Backbar co-owner Sam Treadway confirmed the site was hacked, it’s unclear whether the attack was done by the actual international terrorist organization or just some guy.
“[T]his is in fact a real hack…we’re trying to fix the problem as quickly and quietly as possible…but I also find it hilarious at the same time!’’ wrote Treadway on Facebook Saturday afternoon.
“Hacked by Islamic State’’ reads a graphic on top of the bar’s site, along with an image of the ISIS flag. Making matters worse, a song auto-plays when the site is opened, which everyone can agree is a brutal act of restaurant web design terrorism.
The bar became aware of the hack around 3:15 p.m. today, bartender Kyle Powell explained over the phone. He said the owner, who does the IT for the bar, was working on resolving the issue.
“All I know is it’s graffiti, and we’re trying to get it down as soon as possible,’’ he said, when asked if he thought it was actually ISIS that was responsible.
The drink of the day, incidentally, is made with Tennessee whiskey, maraschino, and lemon, he added.
The websites for a couple of restaurants in Cincinnati were similarly hacked today, apparently by the same group.
The URL left behind by the hacker leads to a Facebook page for a user named Mohammed Ali (Islamic State) who’s compiled a list of other pages he claims to have been able to gain access to, including one at MIT, and one at UC Berkeley.
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