In the wake of the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's headquarters, the French government evealed a slew of cyber attacks that targeted various French websites.

According to their statement and report, as much as 20,000 websites have been the target of cyber attacks last week. Many of these websites were those that belonged to French media organizations.

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The websites of 20 Minutes, Marianne, and Le Parisien were just some of the websites that were targeted by the distributed denial of service attacks, the Associated Press reported.

However, the effects of these attacks were only brief and the websites were back online and functioning properly after a short amount of time.

The head of cyber defense for the French military, Admiral Arnaud Coustilliere, said that the thousands of attacks represented an unprecedented surge in activity that was previously not there. The attacks were being headed by well-known Islamist extremists and highly structures groups of hackers working together, he added.

The attacks on French websites was supposedly a response against the multiple solidarity protests that racked Paris on January 7 after it had gathered national interest.

These multiple cyberattacks on French websites came soon after the shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo which left many wounded or dead. The incident was set up by Islamist extremists in response to several political cartoons that covered Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

According to Muslim law, images of Mohammed are strictly forbidden. As such, they do not recognize the right of secular freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, weeks after the attack, Charlie Hebdo continue to make their satirical cartoons. Their latest front cover still depicts the Prophet Mohammed.

The latest issue, which was released as a smartphone app, showed Mohammed weeping and holding up a sign reading, "Je suis Charlie." Above the image, emblazoned in French, were the words "All is Forgiven." 

TagsCharlie Hebdo, 'Je suis Charlie', Charlie Hebdo massacre, Cyberattack