Revenge For Mohammed Film: Islamic Hacker Group Hacked Websites Of U.S. Banks

A hacker group based in the Middle East has flaunted its online muscle against several of America’s largest financial firms, temporarily keeping customers from accessing their information on banking websites and promising similar shut downs again next week.

But while cyberattacks are routinely done to glean private account information, this threat appears different — it’s political.

The group — identifying itself as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters — claimed responsibility in a post on Pastebin, a site used by hackers, according to The New York Times.

The group said the attacks are linked to the anti-Islam film that sparked deadly protests this month across the Muslim world.

“Insult to a prophet is not acceptable especially when it is the Last prophet Muhammad,” the post said. “So as we promised before, the attack will be continued until the removal of that sacrilegious movie from the Internet.”

Websites of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America were affected last week, while Wells Fargo’s website was hit Tuesday, U.S. Bank was affected Wednesday and PNC Financial Services was disrupted Thursday.