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Dearborn police, FBI investigating hack of local Arab human rights group

Website host suggest ISIS could be to blame
Posted at 10:55 PM, Sep 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-15 23:15:24-04

Dearborn police and the FBI are looking into the hack of a local Arab human rights group.

"We were told that we were the prime target of this hack attack," said Imad Hamad, Executive Director of the American Human Rights Council.

The group found a message on its home page Thursday afternoon. It called on Muslims to reject western culture.

"Arise, O Muslims for jihad," read part of the missive. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the host for the AHRC webpage posed this question to the group.

"Why would a group like ISIS target you and attack you and attack your site?," Hamad recalled.

The hack of the AHRC website spread to over 50 other websites on the same server,  including two other local Arab groups. The source of the attack has not been determined.

Hamad believes its work to advance human rights in the Arab world makes it a prime target for Islamic hate groups like ISIS.

"We take it as a badge of honor that we must be doing something right for us to be a target," Hamad said.

Hamad said the site was restored in a few hours. Day to day operations were not disrupted.