The syrian electronic army hacked into harvard universitys homepage, replacing photos on the website with an image of assad and the words syrian electronic army were here. The syrian electronic army, a mysterious proassad hacker group, struck again tuesday afternoon, taking control of the new york times and twitter internet domains, among others. After the attack on outbrain last week, and the recent attack on sharethis, it has become clear that the syrian electronic army has turned to focus not just on media organizations themselves, but also any thirdparty that media organizations use to load web content. The syrian electronic army is at it again the new york times. Managing editor emilio garciaruiz said the website had fallen victim to. The syrian electronic army has been in the news a lot lately in more ways than one. The aim of the paper is to assess the hacktivist group called the syrian electronic army and determine what their motivations in terms of ethical and poetical motivations. This presents an interesting security dilemma for media organizations and their. The syrian electronic army, in a tweet, claimed they gained access to elements of our site by hacking one of our business partners, outbrain. The syrian electronic army group of hackers works in support of syrian. The bab alsalameh border crossing under syrian rebel control.
The role played by the syrian electronic army sea challenges our common conception of cybersecurity and cyberwar as the terrain of the most advanced and developed. From the beginning of the syrian conflict, the syrian electronic army sea led major cyber operations against foreign and opposition targets on behalf of syrias president bashar alassad. The associated press news agency is the latest western news organisation to fall victim to the syrian electronic army s cyber war, with a false tweet about an explosion at the white house causing. A twitter account associated with the syrian electronic army on monday claimed to have taken over the us armys official website. Syria and its civil war has taken the worlds center stage with the recent news about nerve gas and whether the united states will take some form of military action as a result its use. These hackers are using android surveillance malware to target. The syrian electronic army is known for using the spear phishing technique, where employees at the targeted organization are tricked into providing their username and password. In one memorable 20 hack, the syrian electronic army took over the associated presss twitter account, sending out a. The syrian electronic army sea is a group of computer hackers which first surfaced online in 2011 to support the government of syrian president bashar alassad. How the syrian electronic army took out the new york times and. The syrian electronic army sea, a wellequipped group of progovernment.
Although not directly affiliated with the government of syrian president bashar alassad, the group is known for distributing propaganda in support of his regime. A claimed cyber attack by the syrian electronic army pro syrian regime hackers on the new york times sparks more questions about the group. Two from syrian electronic army added to cybers most wanted amad umar agha, left, and firas dardar were charged in federal court with multiple conspiracies related to computer hacking. Syrian electronic army claims responsibility for hacking u. I got a pdf file on my email with more than 40,000 names of people. Two from syrian electronic army added to cybers most. Using spamming, website defacement, malware, phishing, and denialofservice attacks, it has targeted terrorist organizations, political opposition groups, western news outlets, human rights groups and websites that are seemingly. A cyber attack by syrian electronic army may be assads most dangerous reaction to u.
But the syrian electronic army had more luck with news outlets. Syrian electronic army hacker suspects charged bbc news. Syrian electronic army hacks official us army website. According to defectors from inside its ranks, the group moved last year from damascus to. There is the electronic army which has been a real army in virtual reality. Beware patriotic syrian hackers holding a media grudge. Sea hacked the swedish site truecaller, home to the worlds largest online telephone directory, with over a billion phone numbers in over 100 countries. Gaining in momentum, the syrian electronic army garnered attention for hijacking twitter accounts for the associated press and reuters. Posts about syrian electronic army written by computerpo. Syrian electronic army has caused all sorts of trouble since its emergence at the turn of this decade including an attack on forbes, amongst.
Syrian electronic army hacked tango, swiped user data. If this is true, then there may still be a direct link between assad and the sea. Cyberattacks by the syrian electronic army pro syrian regime hackers spark more questions about the group. Tango has since confirmed that a breach of its system did take place. Syrian electronic army targets xbox twitter account in latest hack. The syrian electronic army a hacktivist group emerald. Fbi most wanted three syrian electronic army hackers. On twitter, the syrian electronic army sea took credit for the attack. Happy birthday mark, the tweet taunted, referring to facebooks recent 10th birthday. Syrian electronic army hijacks us army website naked. Syrian electronic army apparently hacks dns records of twitter. The syrian electronic army has claimed responsibility for hacking the domain name servers of two of twitters sites, and a third appears to have. First reports of actions by the syrian electronic army sea came in 2011. Thats one takeaway from the ongoing exploits of the syrian electronic army, a selfdescribed.
But the new homepage of the syrian electronic army is still hosted in damascus. The syrian electronic army coordinates hacking attempts from their own facebook page, and has defaced or disabled a number of websites with. Syrian electronic army member extradited to the united. The syrian electronic army sea sprang up in 2011 at the beginning of the antiassad revolution. The syrian electronic army an introductory reading list. Peter romar, 36, a syrian national affiliated with the syrian electronic army sea, made his initial appearance this afternoon before u. The seas cyber operations gradually subsided as the conflict progressed and by 2016 it appeared that the group had ceased to operate. The syrian electronic army has claimed ownership of a hack against tango, saying they swiped 1.
March 20 elizabeth obagy middle east security report. Ceo fraud has ruined the careers of many executives and loyal employees. The notorious hacker group syrian electronic army sea is stirring up trouble again, this time with facebook. Syrian electronic army takes down the new york times. Computer hacking conspiracy charges unsealed against members. This christmas its not anonymous or iranian hackers you need to worry about its the syrian electronic army on tuesday, the federal bureau of investigation dispatched warning notices that the s. From the beginning of the syrian conflict, the syrian electronic army sea led major cyber operations against foreign and opposition targets on behalf of syria s president bashar alassad. Syrian electronic army sea has recently compromised three widelyused online communications websites, each of which could have serious realworld consequences for syrias political opposition. Just over a year ago, after its twitter feed had been hacked by the sea, reuters noted the syrian computer society is a group now widely believed to have been something of a precursor to the syrian electronic army. The syrian electronic army has claimed several highprofile security breaches recently, including hacks on the websites of the new york times, the washington post and the us marine corps. Syrian electronic army hacks major communications websites. Syrian hackers claim ap hack that tipped stock market by. A hacking group calling itself the syrian electronic army sea has been getting an unusual amount of press lately, most recently after hijacking the.
Anderson of the eastern district of virginia on charges that he conspired to violate u. The syrian electronic army is rewriting the rules of war. On its website, the syrian electronic army says it was created in 2011 when the arab and western media started their bias in favor of terrorist groups that have killed civilians, the syrian arab. The next web also reported that the sea posted a faked manual retweet promoting a spoof new game. The hackers claimed to be acting in support of president bashar alassad saying they sought to. The attack didnt target the associated press, it targeted america, and it came from the syrian electronic army sea a vigilante organization. Cyberattacks by the syrian electronic army prosyrian regime hackers spark more questions about the group.
Three syrian nationals, all current or former members of the syrian electronic army sea, were charged with multiple conspiracies related to. Hacktivists loyal to syrian president bashar alassad have taken over the new york times web address to broadcast a circa1998style defacement message. Ira winkler president, secure mentem having helped organizations respond to syrian electronic army sea attacks, we learned about their methods. A claimed cyber attack by the syrian electronic army prosyrian regime hackers on the new york times sparks more questions about the group. Inside the mind of the syrian electronic army and its leader. The new york times attacked by syrian electronic army. Us army website defaced by syrian electronic army updated. Armys public website has been taken offline after hackers compromised the site on monday. The syrian electronic army did not offer proof of its responsibility, nor did it send any tweets from the ap account championing its cause, possibly because it was shut down so quickly. But who are they, what is their motivation, and why have they had so much success thus far. The world renowned syrian hacktivists form syrian electronic army sea hacked and defaced the official website of united states army earlier today 9th june, 2015 hackers left a deface page along with a message on the hacked us army website, blaming the country for training and sending terrorists to fight the syrian president bashar al assad.
The syrian electronic army allegedly hacked the washington posts website on 15 august. The associated press news agency is the latest western news organisation to fall victim to the syrian electronic armys cyber war, with a false tweet about an. One of the messages it claims to have left on the site. Overnight, the group claimed to pwn the domain, posting a screenshot of the whois info on its twitter. The syrian electronic army is a loosely organized collective of hactivists, or hackers with an ideological motive. Syrian electronic army investigating internet crimes. It successfully punked famous satire newspaper the onion, taking over its twitter account and using it to send messages criticizing u.