Thirsk school and Hull church websites attacked by virus

North Yorkshire Police say they are looking into the attack on the site of Sowerby Primary School in Thirsk, after its homepage was replaced by a statement which condemns America and Israel.

The website fell victim to a virus which targets weak servers, which manage access to a centralised resource or service in a network.

It appeared to have been hacked late last night by a group or individual called X-saad in a similar manner to a previous attack on the website of an Australian church organisation. Some parents kept their children at home as a result.

It emerged today that the website of St Nikolaj Danish Seamen’s Church in Hull was also targeted by the same virus, though the image has since been removed from its home page.

The statement posted on the site read: “We Hackers We defend our religion, we do not forget we are without limits we do not believe in the laws”

“Islam is not a terrorist religion but Islam is the religion of coexistence and mercy and love, the real terrorists are Israel and america”.

Torben Jorgenson, pastor at the Danish Church, said: “I just saw it this morning, it has been deleted now. It was a very radical message on our website.

“At the Danish Church that is not what we want to have on our website. It is for the promotion of the church and our social gatherings. I was a little bit upset about it this morning.”

In a statement today, Inspector Chris Galley, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “We believe that the Sowerby Primary School website had unauthorised content posted by a virus which seeks out servers with weak security software.

“Other organisations and businesses both locally, nationally and internationally have had their websites compromised in a similar manner in recent months and there is no suggestion that Sowerby Primary School was deliberately targeted in any way.

“The school have now removed their website and enquiries to establish the origin of the content are ongoing.

“It is important that all organisations with a public facing website ensure that they have sound security software in place to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring.”

Pete Dwyer, North Yorkshire’s Corporate Director of the Children and Young People’s Service said: “We have been working closely with the police on this matter.

“Our schools place great importance on website security but we understand that despite all best efforts public and corporate websites can be compromised in this way from time to time.

“We are reassured by the police in this case that this was a random breach and that children are not at any risk.”

One full-time mother said she kept her two sons, aged eight and four, both pupils at Sowerby Primary School, at home “to be on the safe side”.

The 31-year-old, who also has a 10-month-old daughter, said: “When my husband phoned me I decided to keep them home, I didn’t think it was worth the risk, better to be on the safe side and keep them home.

“I only briefly looked at the website at my friend’s house over the road but as soon as I saw the flag at the top I immediately thought it was some terror related thing.

“I didn’t read the message. I think my main fear was of the unknown, you didn’t know what it was and you wanted to be sure to be safe. I didn’t know if it was a prank and I didn’t know if it was a terror thing.”

School governor Charles Allen wrote on Twitter late last night: “Re Sowerby Community Primary School. As community governor I’ve been asked by Jean Yendall, head teacher, to post this to inform/reassure parents.

“The school is aware the website has been hacked and will get the message taken down as soon as possible

“The school has been in dialogue with North Yorkshire Police. There is no need for anyone to contact the police any further

“The school and police believe it is perfectly safe to send your child / children to school tomorrow.”

A Humberside Police spokesman said the force was “made aware today that a local Hull Church has had their website compromised”. He said: “Enquiries are underway to assess the circumstances of the incident.”

A message on the school’s website this morning said it was “currently down for maintenance”.