CNet is reporting that on Tuesday, Twitter’s domain address record was briefly taken over by a group called The Syrian Electronic Army who are pro-government computer hackers aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. To add to that, The New York Times website got hit by the same thing. The hacker group was quick to take credit:
A tweet by Twitter user Official_SEA16 said, “Hi @Twitter, look at your domain, its owned by #SEA :)” https://twitter.com/Official_SEA16/statuses/372462339456380928
SEA has found Twitter to be a fruitful avenue of attack. In recent months, it’s taken over the Twitter feeds of Thomson Reuters, the BBC, 60 Minutes, and The Associated Press.
This is an interesting means for the group to get the attention of people. It’s quick, effective, and gets into the news. Plus, the timing of this is interesting as western countries appear to be about to launch some sort of military action against Syria because of an alleged chemical weapons attack. I’m thinking that as the crisis in Syria escalates, you’ll see more of this.