Hacktivists deface US Army websites with Anti-Trump, Pro-Kurdish messages

The US Army reportedly had to fix two of its websites after they were defaced with pro-Kurdish messages by hackers targeting President Donald Trump. The incident marks the latest in a series of cyberattacks compromising systems operated by the US federal government in recent months.

The breach was first reported by CyberScoop, citing security researcher Ronald Lovelace, who discovered that the error pages on two US Army websites—the Open Innovation Lab and the AI Integration Center, which test and integrate AI and other emerging technologies—had been altered by hackers.

The defaced messages reportedly appeared when users attempted to access webpages that did not exist on the affected websites. They included critical remarks about President Trump, references to his alleged links in the Epstein files, and slogans supporting a free Kurdistan.

The altered pages were visible on Monday. After being alerted by the publication, the US Army took the affected pages offline.

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According to reports, both websites were built on WordPress and relied on multiple plugins that were allegedly exploited by the attackers to gain access. The attackers are believed to be hacktivists—individuals or groups that deface websites to promote political causes. While such attacks are often intended to draw attention to an issue, they can also significantly damage the credibility and reputation of the affected organisations.

Previous breach targeting HSIN

The incident follows another cybersecurity breach confirmed earlier this week by the Department of Homeland Security, in which hackers compromised one of the department's intelligence-sharing platforms used to exchange information among federal, state, and local authorities.

The breached system was the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), an unclassified platform operated by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to facilitate information sharing among federal, state, local, international, and private-sector partners. The network is used for real-time communication, incident response, security coordination, threat intelligence, and the exchange of information related to potential security risks.

Given that the United States is currently hosting FIFA World Cup matches, the breach has raised concerns that sensitive operational information—including security planning and interagency coordination—could have been exposed. However, the DHS said the incident affected only a legacy unclassified system and stressed that no classified networks or information were compromised.