Cyber Incident Victim: Larimer County Sheriff's Office
Date:
Mar 2015
Location:
United States of America
Summary
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office website was compromised by pro-Palestinian hacking group AnonGhost, resulting in a defaced homepage displaying an anti-government message criticizing global inaction. The hackers claimed the movement was unstoppable, though officials confirmed no sensitive data or credentials were accessed. The agency restored the site after addressing the breach, noting AnonGhost's prior targeting of other U.S. government entities.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On March 5, 2015, the official website of Colorado’s Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) was compromised by the pro-Palestinian hacking group AnonGhost. The attack occurred early Tuesday morning, with visitors discovering a defacement page replacing the site’s normal content. The hackers posted a message criticizing global governments for perceived failures in supporting people worldwide, stating: “This message is addressed to all governments…You have failed as expected… You can’t stop the movement anymore…you can try to stop us, but we will always find a way to resist.” The defacement included no claims of data exfiltration or system infiltration beyond the website takeover. LCSO officials became aware of the breach when users began reporting the disruption through the agency’s official Facebook page, confirming the unauthorized access through these public complaints.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Office representative David Moore publicly addressed the incident, confirming the website breach but asserting that no sensitive documents or login credentials were compromised during the attack. The agency initiated an investigation to determine both the technical method of intrusion and the motivation behind the targeting. Technical evidence of the hack was preserved through Zone-H archives, which mirrored the defaced page. By the time media outlets reported the incident, LCSO had fully restored its website to operational status. This incident marked a continuation of AnonGhost’s pattern of targeting U.S. government entities, following previous attacks on the Hillside Illinois Police Department and a military boarding school’s digital infrastructure. The group’s message emphasized ideological resistance rather than financial or intelligence-gathering objectives, aligning with their established hacktivist profile.