A group calling itself Hacking For Satan has vandalized 25 church Web sites in the past week, replacing their home pages with a message about Satanism. On Tuesday, the group attacked sites of six churches in the eastern U.S., according to the Alldas defacement archive. The page created by the attackers included an image of a goat's head in a star, known as the Sigil of Baphomet, and the words "Owned by Hacking For Satan."
The defaced page also contained a list of eight statements, such as "Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence," and an e-mail address for the group at the address Godisdead.org.
Joan Ruch, a spokesperson for Saint Mary's Parish in Annapolis, Md., said the church's Web hosting firm was still investigating how the attackers were able to penetrate the site's security Tuesday morning.
"We recognize that there are people who enjoy hacking into Web sites. As far as their message versus our message, we think God always wins," she said.
Earlier this month, the attackers similarly vandalized 19 Web sites operated by churches and other religious groups around the world.
A message at the home page of Immaculate Conception Parish, which was attacked Nov. 21, today read "The church website is back up after several months of resolving security issues ... Fr. Bob has enlisted a web team to improve the site."
Besides Saint Mary's, the church sites defaced Tuesday include Florida-based Park Springs Presbyterian, High Street Baptist of Virginia, Alabama's Mountain Top Community Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church in New York state.
All but the Westminster church site were restored this morning.