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From Express UK, 9 April, 2015, 1:07 PM CST:
French TV network hacked by group with 'links to Islamic State'
A HACKING group apparently linked to Islamic State (IS) has launched a "large-scale" cyber attack on a French television network.
TV5Monde said its TV station, website and social media accounts were all hacked by a group calling themselves the "CyberCaliphate".
The hackers are said to have posted material on its social media feeds to protest against French military strikes in Iraq, where IS has seized large swathes of territory.
During the cyber attack, the hackers reportedly published documents on TV5Monde's Facebook page, purporting to be the ID cards of relatives of French soldiers involved in anti-IS operations.
They also replaced the network's social media profile pictures to a masked Islamic jihadists.
A message posted by the group on TV5Monde's Facebook page reportedly read: "The CyberCaliphate continues its cyberjihad against the enemies of Islamic State."
The cyber assault caused 11 of the network's channels to go temporarily off air, while TV5Monde said it regained control over most of its sites around two hours after the hack began.
Their Facebook page was back online on Thursday, but the main website remained down.
The digital director for TV5Monde, Helene Zemmour, called the attack "unprecedented and large-scale".
The French government has since branded the cyber assault, which started late on Wednesday, as "vile and cowardly" and began an investigation to track down the group.
Meanwhile, the French Foreign Ministry confirmed the attack had been claimed by individuals purporting to support IS.
"We are faced with determined terrorists, and we are determined to fight them," said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, adding that cyber security measures would be reinforced.
France is currently part of the international coalition carrying out strikes against IS militants in Iraq.
Earlier this year, seventeen people were killed following a three-day reign of terror in Paris, which started at the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
One of the attackers, Amedy Coulibaly - who shot dead a policewoman and four hostages at a kosher supermarket in the days after the Charlie Hebdo attack - allegedly pledged alliegance to IS in a video published online.
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