Sacred Heart Parish in Erie is the latest victim of a cyber attack.


On Sunday, the Catholic church's website was shut down by hackers.What you'll see when you visit is, "Free Hamza Bendelladj, "Free Palestine," and "We don't accept killing Muslims everywhere, stop killing US."


It's a chilling message Rev. Mark O'Hern said he first got word of on Sunday. "I take the hack for face value that this is an individual or group that is pushing an agenda," he said of the cyber attack.

 

The group claiming responsibility for the attack is called El Moujahidin from Algeria. "It's frustrating because as a parish, you try and do good things for the community, outreach for the neighborhood and the diocese," said Michael Malthaner, a parishioner at the church.


Jeannie Banbuskirk said, "When they feel they have to start hacking churches, that's pretty sad."


The Diocese of Erie said it has contacted the company that hosts the website, and is working to prevent a cyber attack from happening again in the future. In a statement the diocese said, "We expect to find that this was a random, generic hack, and not something specifically targeting Sacred Heart, or our region."


Experts at Epic Web Studios in Erie have encountered similar hacks. They said nine times out of 10, there's nothing to worry about, but above all, prevention is key. "Make sure you have a partner by your side to help you through either the development or to take over the security aspect of the site," said Paul Sherer, a web developer at Epic Web Studios. "And make sure the loose ends are tied up, and there aren't any open doors, backs doors, or security vulnerabilities."


Rev. O'Hern said he plans on contacting police. It's unclear if any information was compromised. The diocese said no other parish websites appear to have been affected.