Aug 11, 2006 : Hezbollah Sets Up on NA Servers

📅 August 11, 2006 - The recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon has revealed Web sites operated by the militant Islamic organization - considered a terrorist organization by both the US and Canadian governments - on North American servers, including some on companies unknowingly hosting the content.


This week it was reported that a Web hosting company located in Montreal, Canada, had discovered it was unknowingly hosting material for the Hezbollah organization. The group reportedly hacked into a server operated by iWeb, which was tipped off to the Web site's presence by an anonymous email.

A spokesman for the company said iWeb contacted the reseller hosting the site, who shut down the site. Because iWeb rents out space to hosting resellers, says the company, it cannot be responsible for what ends up on those servers.

Last week, reports said that US federal investigators were examining domain registrar eNom's part in the operation of the Web site for Hezbollah's official television station al-Manar TV station.

Israel bombed the TV station's location in Beirut, but the station has continued its efforts to communicate online. As the site's domain registrar, eNom may be considered to be facilitating the quick shifting of the site between hosts, which has kept it from being shut down.

Experts say acting as the station's registrar may place the company in violation of US Executive Order 13224, which prevents US groups or individuals from providing financial and technological support to organizations considered terrorists by the government.