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Hackers Deface Boston Police Website

Warning: The image in this post contains explicit content.

BOSTON — The Boston Police Department's website — bpdnews.com — was hacked Friday morning, and the hacking collective Anonymous claimed credit.

(Screengrab of the hacked bpdnews.com)
(Screengrab of the hacked bpdnews.com)

A police spokesman would not confirm that Anonymous was responsible for the hacking. Throughout Friday, police worked to restore the website. By mid-afternoon, the website redirected to BPD's Facebook page, which included a statement.

"It is unfortunate that someone would go to this extent to compromise BPDNews.com, a helpful and informative public safety resource utilized daily by community members seeking up-to-date news and information about important safety matters," the statement said.

The hacking replaced the police website with a music video that compares police to plantation overseers. It also had a message posted that said, "Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS," an apparent reference to Occupy Wall Street.

Boston's Occupy movement set up camp in the city's financial district for two months this fall. Police dismantled the camp Dec. 10, citing public health and safety concerns.

Anonymous is a collection of Internet enthusiasts, pranksters and activists whose targets have included financial Visa and MasterCard, the Church of Scientology and law enforcement agencies.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This article was originally published on February 03, 2012.

This program aired on February 3, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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