SALISBURY, Md.- It was a chaotic Tuesday afternoon in the WBOC NewsPlex. And it all started when a group calling itself CyberCaliphate found i's way into WBOC's Twitter account and website.
Ethan Holland, WBOC's director of digital media, said it happened quickly.
“Around 11 o'clock we saw that our Twitter password had been changed and we were locked out," he said. "Then around 11:30 we saw that our website had been modified."
Modified with pictures appearing to support the Islamic militant group ISIS. WBOC Web Editor Kye Parsons found himself in the center of it all.
"We took as quick action as we possibly could," Parsons said.
While the reaction was swift, the damage was done. Links were shared with the public through WBOC.comand Twitter. Holland said WBOC was used as a mouthpiece with information that was not its own. WBOC General Manager Craig Jahelka said it was important to be proactive.
"We needed to let everyone know this was not our doing,” he said, “and we are doing everything we can to correct the situation."
The Salisbury Police Department was contacted and subsequently passed the information along to the FBI, which has been speaking with WBOC about the incident. The FBI said similar attacks have been quietly happening to media companies across the United States.
