ISIS Hacks French Language Global Network TV5Monde; Takes Over 11 TV Channels, Social Media Accounts

The group "claims allegiance" to ISIS.

As far as I'm concerned, that makes them ISIS, unless ISIS denies responsibility.

Which I can almost guarantee you they will not.

From

(CNN)A global French-language television network struggled Thursday to regain its footing -- and contact with its audience -- after having been virtually disabled by a massive cyberattack the previous evening. 

In addition to all of its 11 channels, TV5Monde also lost control of its social media outlets and its websites, director Yves Bigot said in a video message posted later on Facebook. 

On a mobile site that was still active, the network said it was "hacked by an Islamist group." ISIS logos and markings appeared on TV5Monde social media accounts. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility by ISIS or any other group. 

Later Thursday, when it finally regained control of its website, the network posted that it had been the "victim of piracy unprecedented in the world history of broadcasting." 

The attack began around 10 p.m. (4 p.m. ET). The screens of the 11 networks went dark. The network said a message written in three languages -- French, Arabic and English -- was then posted on one of its social media sites. 

The message, the network said, included threats to the network and "a glorification of Sharia." 

The company email went down, as well. "Everything was done in a very synchronized manner," said Helene Zemmour, the network's digital director. 

"Shortly after the beginning of the attack, our internal computer system fell, and other programs followed." French officials promise 500 new jobs to fight cybercrime Appalled French government officials condemned the attack as an unprecedented ratcheting up of cybercrime and pledged swift and dramatic action. 

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the attack was the work of terrorists and called it "an attack on a new scale." He urged all TV networks to be on guard. 

"All measures are being implemented, both at the judicial and technical level, and an investigation is underway," he said. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said his department would create 500 new jobs, including some for technicians specializing in fighting cybercrime. 

"So there is a complete mobilization on the technological, legal and human levels," he said. And officials pledged to pursue the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

From Ace of Spades:

A group claiming to be IS ["Daech," the French sometimes call them] hacked TV5 Monde, Wednesday night from the 8th to the 9th of April. Around 10 pm, a large black band bearing the slogan "Je Suis ISIS" -- the English acronym of Daech... appeared on their social networks. 

This group, Cyber Caliphate (Cyber Califat, in French), claimed itself to be part of Daech, which it had previously not recognized. 

It appeared at the summer 2014 and has already hacked the Pentagon, the general staff of the American army, and threatened the Obamas, especially Michelle, the wife of the President of the United States. 

Cyber Caliphate signed its attack against TV5 Monde with a message in French, English, and [get this] Arabic. This last version of the message was further filled with spelling mistakes and a lack of clarity. 

"Soldiers of France, you have the chance to save your families," it stated. The message took after Francois Hollande, accused of sending the army "in this war that serves you no purpose... It is for that reason that the French received the gifts of Charlie Hebdo and the [Kosher market] Hyper Casher." 

The Cyber Caliphate seeks the families of soldiers, especially those who find themselves currently on board [the French aircraft carrier] Charles de Gualle. 

According to our information, this attack originated in France, carried out by a network employing, according to the American intelligence services, around fifteen experienced hackers around the world. Two of the men were recently arrested in Great Britain. They hacked the British police services.

And finally, a clarification from Ace:

While this "Cyber Caliphate" "hacked' their TV antennae, I don't think they substituted their own signal -- I think they just knocked TVMonde's signal off-line. 

Not completely sure of that, but I haven't seen any suggestions that Islamist messages ran on the TV. They only apparently ran messages on their Facebook page and Twitter account, etc.