Investigators have determined that the three Boulder Jewish organizations’ websites that were hacked last week were defaced from abroad, and no federal charges are expected to be filed in the case.
The sites of two synagogues, Bonai Shalom and Har HaShem, as well as the website of the Boulder Rabbinic Council, were defaced on Jan. 2 with the message, “Jews are terrorists. Child Organ Smugglers. Fu*k the Jews! and Fu*k Israel!”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Boulder Police Department issued a joint statement Friday afternoon to provide an update on the case. The full text of the statement is below:
“During the first week of January 2010, several websites were hacked in the Boulder area, including two Jewish synagogue websites. The other sites primarily involved commercial sites and were hacked without any derogatory statements or words being posted. The victims of these website intrusions have reported no losses nor any additional intrusion or compromise.
“The FBI and Boulder Police Department have worked together and stayed in communication with the synagogue leaders and the Anti-Defamation League regarding the defacement of the synagogue websites. The investigation revealed that while the synagogue sites were defaced with anti-Semitic language, there were no threats to life or property. Investigators found the origin of these attacks originated abroad. While the comments and actions were disturbing and unacceptable, there is no reason to believe that person poses a physical threat to the Boulder community. At this time and based on the information gathered to date in the investigation, federal charges are not expected to be pursued.”
Also in the statement, Amy Stein, community director of the Boulder office of the Anti-Defamation League, said, “The Anti-Defamation League applauds the work of the FBI and the Boulder Police Department in the successful investigation of these crimes. ADL is committed to the safety and security of Boulder’s Jewish community, and will continue to speak out against all acts of bigotry targeting anyone in Boulder County.”
In the statement, the FBI and Boulder Police Department also encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of an Internet crime to make a report to www.ic3.gov and to visit www.fbi.gov for Internet safety tips and to learn about various Internet scams.
They also provide some key steps to protecting computers from intrusion:
- Keep your firewall turned on
- Install or update your antivirus software
- Install or update your antispyware technology
- Keep your operating system up to date
- Be careful what you download
- Turn off your computer
