ISIS Threatens Albuquerque Residents: ‘Christmas Will Never Be Merry Any Longer’
The good citizens of Albuquerque were threatened en masse on Wednesday when someone affiliated with ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, hacked the Albuquerque Journal‘s mobile app.
The hijacking of the app expressed support for the extremest Islamist group while warning residents of Albuquerque that their personal secrets were being collected through mobile devices.
The post, which was set with a picture of a masked Muslim man, read as follows.
“You’ll see no mercy infidels. We are already here, we are in your PCs, in each house, in each office. With Allah’s permission we begin with Albuquerque.”
The story, which carried the unmistakable title of Christmas Will Never Be Merry Any Longer and shows the caption “I love ISIS,” acknowledged a relationship between the U.S. led and sanctioned bombings of ISIS-held areas as one motive for the cyberattack.
As reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican, as far back as September, various media outlets reported that ISIS planned to launch what it dubbed a “cyber caliphate” attack targeting technology in the U.S. with hacking using encrypted software that makes identifying the culprit responsible difficult.
As the ominous post continued, “While the us [sic] and its satellites are bombing the Islamic State, we broke into your home networks and personal devices and know everything about you,” leading to some panic among residents of Albuquerque.
On top of that, the post alleged, “We know all personal data of Albuquerque locals: Where you live, what you eat, your diseases and even your health insurance cards.”
KRWG reported that the ISIS posting was removed at about 9 a.m. and replaced with a story with the headline, Bonuses for APD brass draw fire.
The author of the post, whoever he, she, or they may be, ended with the chilling threat to the residents of Albuquerque, “You will look around more often, will call up your children more often, think of your security more often, but that won’t help you.”
