No more Jesus picture. City of Daytona Beach regains control of its Facebook page.

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·2 min read
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DAYTONA BEACH — Good news for everybody who likes to keep up with the latest happenings in Daytona by regularly scrolling through the city's Facebook page feed.

After three days of Daytona's Facebook page showing only colorful sketches of the beach and an image of Jesus walking on water – the result of a hacker taking control Sunday night – city officials said late Wednesday that they have regained full control over their page.

The City of Daytona Beach's Facebook is back in business after getting hijacked by a hacker.
The City of Daytona Beach's Facebook is back in business after getting hijacked by a hacker.

Posts about an event this weekend at the Ocean Center, the Speedway, and a neighborhood meeting are again showing on the page.

"We are continuing to work with Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to provide extra security measures to safeguard our page in the future," city spokeswoman Susan Cerbone said Wednesday evening. "During this incident, the breach was limited to the city’s Facebook page and it did not impact other city infrastructure systems."

This is the image a hacker posted on the city of Daytona Beach's Facebook page earlier this week. The picture of Jesus Christ walking on water is now removed, and the city's usual posts have resumed.
This is the image a hacker posted on the city of Daytona Beach's Facebook page earlier this week. The picture of Jesus Christ walking on water is now removed, and the city's usual posts have resumed.

On Tuesday morning, Cerbone verified the city's Facebook page was hacked this week and said city officials were working to remedy the situation.

Cerbone, the city's communications and marketing manager, said the police department's detectives and city Chief Information Officer Hossam Reziqa have been investigating the attack. They worked with both Meta and the Department of Homeland Security.

Cerbone said the city's Facebook page was first hacked July 7. City officials believe the problems began when someone in the city's communications department clicked on a link that looked legitimate but was not.

Hacker takes over Daytona Facebook page: Was it divine intervention or a hacker? Daytona Beach's Facebook page gets hijacked

The city was able to regain control of the Facebook page last month, but the hacker or hackers took over the page two more times.

The intruders never demanded money or posted anything profane, Cerbone said.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: City of Daytona Beach regains control of its Facebook page