MP hit by Muslim extremist hackers
A Conservative MP's website remains out of action after being hacked by Islamic extremists over the weekend.
Morecambe and Lunesdale MP David Morris found the site, used to communicate his activities to constituents, had been hacked by an organisation calling themselves 'Freedom for the Mujahideen' at the start of the weekend.
He was notified of the development by his brother. "I really did think he was joking," he told politics.co.uk. "I didn't look at it for too long."
The site was replaced with a single webpage dominated by Arabic writing and a video of "executions", Morris said.
"Despite what's happened to me, it's not fazed me in any way at all… you just get on with the job," he added.
Morris praised Lancashire police, who have launched a probe into the incident.
"We received a report from a complainant relating to a website and an investigation is under way," a Lancashire police spokesperson said.
The mujahideen is the name given to radical Muslims fighting jihad – 'holy war' – against non-Muslims.
Its fighters resisted the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s and have also been linked with the Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban's struggle against western forces in Afghanistan and the ongoing Syrian civil war.
"I was shocked to discover that my website has been hacked," Morris said.
"I have alerted the company who host my website as well as Lancashire police. Should constituents wish to contact me they should email me or telephone me until further notice."
An aide to Morris, who was first elected to parliament in 2010, said technicians were working on the website and hoped to have it restored soon.
