Cyber Incident Victim: Arizona Department of Weights and Measures
Date:
Jun 2015
Location:
United States of America
Summary
The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures website was compromised by the Middle East Cyber Army, resulting in defacement with warfare imagery and immediate shutdown. No evidence of sensitive data loss was identified, as a backup system protected business files, though the intrusion method remained undetermined. The agency considered accelerating a planned merger with the Department of Agriculture instead of restoring the site. The same group targeted a Scottsdale arts organization and multiple other websites, but no additional state-run sites were affected.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On June 10, 2015, the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures confirmed its website had been compromised by the Middle East Cyber Army (MECA) during a weekend attack. The hack occurred on Sunday, with the attackers defacing the website by replacing its content with imagery depicting warfare, including an image of an exploding city described by Director Andy Tobin as showing "flames blowing and a city coming down." The agency immediately took the website offline following the breach and maintained it in a shutdown state during the investigation. Tobin stated no evidence indicated the theft or loss of sensitive data, attributing this outcome to the agency’s operational backup system, which preserved critical business files related to vehicle licensing, meter calibration, and other regulatory functions. The agency could not determine MECA’s method of intrusion despite conducting a preliminary review. The Arizona Department of Administration confirmed no additional state-operated websites were affected by the incident.
MECA simultaneously targeted Art and Sol, a Scottsdale-based children’s performance group, marking the second confirmed Arizona-based victim. Art and Sol restored its website by Sunday evening, but its operator disclosed that 15 of 120 websites under their management had been compromised by the same threat actor. The Department of Weights and Measures delayed reactivating its site pending a decision to either restore the original platform or accelerate a planned merger with the Arizona Department of Agriculture, initially slated for 2016 under existing legislation. Tobin noted preparatory work for the merger was already underway, making an early transition to the Agriculture Department’s web infrastructure a feasible alternative. During the outage, the agency directed public inquiries to a designated phone line. No further disruptions to the department’s licensing or inspection services were reported.