IS militants force live programs off air at TV5Monde
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FRENCH television network TV5Monde was forced to broadcast only pre-recorded programs yesterday after an “unprecedented” hack by self-proclaimed Islamic State militants, who also hijacked its websites and social networks.
The Paris-based company, whose programs are broadcast in more than 200 countries, was the target of a cyber attack “unprecedented for us and unprecedented in the history of television,” TV5Monde boss Yves Bigot told reporters.
“Since 5am, we have only been able to put out a single program on all our channels. For the moment, we are unable to produce our own programs,” Bigot added.
“When you work in television... and you find out that your 11 channels are down, of course that’s one of the most dreadful things that can happen to you,” he said.
The hackers took control of the station and its social media operations late on Wednesday, blacking out the TV channels and posting documents on its Facebook page purporting to be the identity cards and CVs of relatives of French soldiers involved in anti-IS operations, along with threats against the troops.
“Soldiers of France, stay away from the Islamic State! You have the chance to save your families, take advantage of it,” read one message on TV5Monde’s Facebook page.
“The Cyber Caliphate continues its cyber jihad against the enemies of Islamic State,” the message added.
The defense ministry in Paris said it was working to verify whether the documents were genuine.
TV5Monde regained control of its social networks by 2am yesterday but television broadcasts were likely to take hours, if not days, to return to normal. The attack would have required weeks of preparation, Bigot said.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the hack was an “unacceptable attack on the freedom of information and expression.”
Senior government members flocked to the station to show their support, with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve saying: “We are up against determined terrorists ... we are determined to fight them.”
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: “Everything is being done to find those who carried this out, punish them, re-establish the programs and prevent cyber terrorists threatening freedom of expression in the future.”
Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin called a meeting of top French media chiefs to discuss the attack.
The hackers had accused French President Francois Hollande of committing “an unforgivable mistake” by getting involved in “a war that serves no purpose.”
“That’s why the French received the gifts of Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher in January,” it said on the broadcaster’s Facebook page, referring to attacks by Islamist gunmen in Paris on the satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket that left 17 people dead.
France is part of a US-led military coalition carrying out airstrikes against IS in Iraq and Syria, where the jihadist group has seized swathes of territory and declared an Islamic “caliphate.”
Close to 1,500 French nationals have left France to join the militants’ ranks in Iraq and Syria, where they are almost half the number of European fighters present, according to a report by the French Senate.
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