Hacktivists defaced US Army sites, officials removed pages and opened investigation - Межа. Новини України.

A coordinated defacement altered error pages on two Army sites, raising fresh concerns plugin vulnerabilities and government web monitoring.

As informed by Techcrunch

An incident of hacktivist interference with U.S. Army websites has been recorded in the United States: two pages were replaced with messages supporting Kurdish interests and calls for Donald Trump. This is another example of how malicious actors can influence public life through attacks on government resources.

According to Ronald Lovelace, a cybersecurity researcher, as reported by Cyberscoop, display errors were altered on two U.S. Army websites – the Open Innovation Lab and the AI Integration Center – so that bogus messages appeared on the error pages.

In these messages, Donald Trump was named as a “pedophile” and a “thief,” possibly referring to mentions in Department of Justice documents the late financier and the well-known convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein; Tom Barrack, the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, was also mentioned, and there was a call for “Free Kurdistan.”

The defaced messages appeared when attempting to visit a non-existent page on the site. The Army promptly removed these bogus pages after being alerted.

The Army has not provided an explanation of how exactly these bogus pages were compromised. It is known that the sites likely run on WordPress and rely on several plugins that can become targets for hackers. There is no confirmation that data were stolen; the investigation continues.

Such incidents highlight risks for defense-related online services and the need for enhanced monitoring and protection of websites. Earlier this year, hacktivists attacked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and released a significant volume of documents relating to contracts that enable immigration authorities, such as ICE, to carry out deportations.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed another breach this week after hackers breached one of the platforms for sharing intelligence among states, local and federal agencies. Experts emphasize the need for rapid response and strengthening cybersecurity of government resources to reduce risks to citizens and the state apparatus.

While the agency has not provided official , the investigation continues, and experts emphasize the importance of strengthening protection and monitoring of vulnerable systems to prevent repeat incidents in the future.

In the future, such incidents underscore the need for ongoing reinforcement of cybersecurity for government resources and rapid response to threats, according to experts.