An India-based search optimization firm became the target of a cyberattack this week because it was unfortunate enough to share a similar name with online search giant Google, Newsweek has reported.
The Cyber Caliphate Army branch of the Islamic State militant group ISIS had vowed on Monday to shut down Google's web operations. While Google's site appears to have operated normally since then, the same could not be said for Add Google Online, the Indian firm whose website was defaced with ISIS imagery and audio.
Despite the small scope of the attack, experts quoted in the Newsweek report warn that such incidents are a signal that the cyber capabilities of ISIS are growing in sophistication.
A second report by Express in the U.K. noted that following the original hack, Add Google Online's website was subsequently taken over by another hacker group, known as n3far1ous, which posted anti-ISIS sentiments.
