Overseas hackers shut down dog rescue’s website for bragging rights, expert says
The hacking of a Newport Beach-based animal rescue group’s website this week could be part of a competition involving hackers from two foreign countries, a technology expert said.
When volunteers for German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County logged on to the site Tuesday morning, they were greeted with a “horrible devilish face, like a gargoyle,” said the organization’s director, Maria Dales.
Next to a 3-D skull wrapped in chains were the words “Yemen HackerS X-pro Team was here … we are anonymous … we are legion … we do not forgive … we do not forget … expect us.”
The rescue group, one of three dedicated to German shepherds in Orange County, relies on its website for marketing dogs, accepting adoption applications and receiving donations. The nonprofit usually takes in a few hundred dollars in donations daily, Dales said.
The site, www.gsroc.org, also is the group’s hub for client contact information. Without it, volunteers were unable to work for two days.
Hackers from Yemen and Turkey have been targeting websites to compete with one another, said Steve Botkin, a former information technology project manager for Boeing who contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense and has been following the situation. The hackers post their conquests on Facebook for bragging rights.
“So far, nothing has been really disruptive other than taking over the website, unless you go in and see what they might have done. They could have put in malware, set up a backdoor entrance, destroyed some data, and it’s vulnerable unless you have a professional come in to secure it,” Botkin said.
Since Monday, the Yemeni group has hacked into at least a dozen websites and posted the acts on its Facebook page. The sites include an Egyptian chamber of commerce’s page, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and an Egyptian pharmaceuticals company. Some of the sites are still inoperable.
“Every time they hack into a website they get to beat their chest and post it,” Botkin said. “They’re not hitting professional sites, state government sites or anything of value, but it’s an ongoing struggle.”
In German Shepherd Rescue’s case, the hackers broke a key foundation code that technicians from Newtek, the site’s web services provider, identified, located and reconstructed early Thursday. By 10 a.m., the site was running again.
It went down again Thursday night but was operating Friday. “It’s up on stilts,” Dales said.
Botkin, who recently adopted a German shepherd through the group, is working to stabilize the site for free. Otherwise, he said, the hackers could come back, “find more vulnerability and re-hack it” for more bragging rights.
“All we’re trying to do is find these dogs loving homes and then somebody takes pleasure in creating this havoc,” said Dales, who referred to the attack as a form of animal cruelty. “The website is our lifeline.”
Shelter volunteers said they received a flood of emails and phone calls from frustrated visitors hoping to adopt dogs.
“We couldn’t do anything but panic,” Dales said. “We don’t know how many opportunities we’ve missed.”
Dales reached out to other animal rescue groups in Orange County to post photos of senior dogs for a German Shepherd Rescue event Saturday encouraging adoption of older animals for National Adopt a Senior Dog Month. The event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at PetSmart, 23602 El Toro Road, Lake Forest.
The group places two or three German shepherds during a typical weekend, Dales said. But with little work being accomplished during the week to drum up interest in Saturday’s event, Dales said she doesn’t anticipate finding homes for any.
“I feel very violated,” Dales said, “like someone broke into my house and attacked my dogs. I don’t know who would do that kind of thing, but they left helpless dogs more helpless. They’ve already had it hard enough.”