On Thursday, the website for Startup Maryland, a “peer-driven” regional initiative created to help entrepreneurs grow businesses and connect with the innovation community, was hacked. The local Startup America Partnership branch’s website was replaced by a static image. The image shows what seems to be a cartoon illustration of a sunset over a mosque along with a cryptic message written possibly in Turkish.
The Daily Record first caught the hack and snapped a picture of the hacker’s message here:
Startup Maryland Founder and CEO Mike Binko told The Daily Record that, “the hack was the result of a security update for WordPress that didn’t install properly over the Memorial Day weekend.”
Startup Maryland’s website was back up and running smoothly before late afternoon Thursday.
Founded in 2012, Startup Maryland serves as platform to connect the state’s community of entrepreneurs, investors, startup enthusiasts and business leaders. “As one of our most active regions over the past year Startup Maryland has attracted more than 500 startups participants in the eight months since officially launching,” Scott Case, CEO of Startup America Partnership, said of Startup Maryland in a statement.
Not to be confused with the Obama administration’s Startup America initiative, Startup America Partnership received its initial funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Case Foundation and involves several corporate sponsors, including American Airlines, American Express OPEN, Dell Inc., Intuit Inc., NYSE Euronext, and Microsoft.
DC Inno has reached out to Startup Maryland and will update this story with further information when/if it is made available
