France's TV5Monde Reportedly Hacked by Islamic State

This was the first time that I can say that the doings of the Islamic State even came remotely close to hitting me and my everyday routine at home, and it was relatively minor. Other than being shocked and horrified by their crimes, sometimes with the videos (a couple of which I have seen in full), and reading the depressing news headlines that they have been responsible for.

My family has subscribed to TV5 Monde, the international French broadcasting station. Early on in the day, it was up and running, much like normal.

But when I checked in the evening, there was something saying that they were experiencing technical problems, and presumably would return once these were straightened out.

At the time, I sighed, thinking something was wrong with the cable (yes, still cable) connection.

Then I visited my parents place, and my father immediately showed me that it was the same with their TV5 Monde connection.

My immediate thought was that there was some sort of complication with the channel itself. Something was surely wrong.

However, my brother informed me that this had apparently been some elaborate hack, and that the Islamic State was taking credit for it.

I wondered at first if this was some weird sort of belated April Fool's Joke.

Apparently not.

There was a message on TV5 Monde's Facebook page with this following message:

"The CyberCaliphate continues its cyberjihad against the enemies of Islamic State."

TV5 Monde's digital director, Helene Zemmour, said that this attack was "unprecedented and large-scale".

TV5 Monde had to close up shop with it's television broadcast and web pages temporarily.

It should be noted that France is a part of the U.S. led military coalition opposing the Islamic State.

In any case, here are some related articles:


France's TV5Monde 'hit by Islamic State hackers' published by BBC Europe, April 8, 2015:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32229152

French international broadcaster TV5Monde hacked by "Islamic State", April 8, 2015:

http://www.dw.de/french-international-broadcaster-tv5monde-hacked-by-islamic-state/a-18370971

French broadcaster TV5Monde says victim of Islamic State hacking, April 9, 2015:

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/europe/french-broadcaster-tv5monde-says-victim-of-islamic-state-hacking/

‘ISIS hackers’ overtake French TV station published by Reuters, April 8, 2015:

http://rt.com/news/248073-islamic-state-hackers-french-tv/