A government website, the Federal Depository Library Program, was hacked over the weekend and displayed pro-Iranian messages promising revenge upon America. These threatening vows to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani were accompanied by an edited image of President Trump, bloodied and bruised, being punched in the jaw among a plethora of missiles. 

The doctored photograph was layered over a map of the Middle East along with a tribute to the Iranian general, whose death in an American drone attack on Friday has ignited worldwide political disorder.

“With his departure and with God’s power, his work and path will not cease and severe revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and blood of the other martyrs,” read a particularly suggestive message on the website.

The site was taken down for 24 hours after Saturday night’s events by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Yet, it was put back online the following day after further examination. Gary Somerset, a representative of the agency, has since assured via email that “none of the site’s data was compromised”. 

It is still unclear if the cyber attack was ordered by the Iranian government. It’s not abnormal for hackers to regularly trawl government websites; thus, the event is not yet being considered a legitimate threat from Iran. Mr. Somerset went on to say that the office is continuing to investigate the origins of the intrusion in hopes of learning more information. 

“I think that in such threatening times, it is important to take necessary precautions. All government websites and organizations should definitely increase their cyber monitoring and security to prevent any further public alarm” says Wayne Hills Junior Jamie Hamalainen. 

Whether it be conducted from the Iranian government itself or a group of vigilante agitators, the cyber scare surely sparked a lot of attention over the past few days, further perturbing the political upheaval following Soleimani’s death.