Planned Parenthood website: 'Hacked' by anti-abortion extremists or undergoing normal maintenance?

Brett T. | 5:09 PM on July 30, 2015

People watched with amusement last night as anti-abortion “extremists” took over Planned Parenthood’s website, defacing the home page, not with a pro-life manifesto but with an apology for the inconvenience mirroring Planned Parenthood’s own tweets and a button linking to Planned Parenthood’s Facebook page (with donation information) as an alternative.

pp-fake-hack

Oddly, at no time did the “world’s most sophisticated hackers” hired by the anti-abortion extremists use their access to the site to post any sort of anti-abortion message or manifesto or redirect visitors to their own site.

Visible tinkering to the site continued late into the night, and today, the Washington Examiner is reporting that Planned Parenthood is changing its story on the alleged cyberattack.

Really smart to lie to and manipulate their remaining supporters.
Planned Parenthood changes story on website 'hack' http://t.co/K1hnCJSjYs

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) July 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/Neal_Dewing/status/626840335948320768

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood told the Washington Examiner Thursday that “control of the site was quickly regained after the attack, which allowed the group to put up minimal messages while an attempt was made to boost website security,” adding that “The website is under our control now but it is down until we can restore the site and put safeguards in place.”

Later Thursday, a new message making no mention of a cyberattack appeared on the homepage: “Our normal site is currently undergoing maintenance. Below you will find information to help you find a Planned Parenthood health center, book an appointment, and get involved with Planned Parenthood.” The original message that “today, anti-abortion extremist hackers brought down plannedparenthood.org” remained on the group’s Facebook page, however.