Etowah Sheriffs Dept. Website Hacked

Someone appearing to be Kurdish sympathizers hacked the Etowah County Sheriff's Office's website.  Public Information Officer Natalie Barton says the sheriff's office is aware of the issue and working on it.  Hackers used the website to send an anti-ISIS message. The hacked website displays a flag of Kurdistan with the words "Long Live to peshmerga" above it. Peshmerga is the military force of Iraqi Kurdistan that has been battling ISIS.  The words "Hacked by Muhamad Emad" are at the top of the hacked site. The words "Kurdish hackers was here" appear between the flag and the anti-ISIS message. In a press release, the department said the website was hacked, August 1, 2015.  They were made aware of the inappropriate message that was placed on our homepage and quickly began working to correct it. They learned that a server, belonging to the company who hosts the website, was  hacked by this outside party and the Sheriffs Department website was one of many effected. The Sheriff's Office website has been taken down and is being restored. 

The website of the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts also fell victim to the hackers.