Northland power company Top Energy hit by Egyptian hacker

The attack on Top Energy's website took down a number of sites hosted by the same provider. Photo/Getty Images

An Egyptian hacker is believed to be behind a cyber attack that took down a Northland power company's website last week.

In the early hours of Friday morning, as last week's storm was at its height, Top Energy customers going online to find out when their power would be restored were instead greeted by a message saying the website had been hacked.

The website was restored by mid-morning. A hacker, or hacking group, called Dr Silnt Hill and believed to be from Egypt had gained access to the external server hosting Top Energy's website.

A Top Energy spokeswoman said it was not a targeted attack on the company because several websites hosted by the same provider, Net24, were hacked.

The website was isolated from and not part of the company's internal systems so no customer information was at risk.

The timing, just hours after Top Energy announced it was planning to lay off 17 staff, is thought to be coincidental.