--Financial Times blog, Twitter accounts hacked by group that
says it is the Syrian Electronic Army
--Group has hacked The Guardian, the Associated Press and parody
news website The Onion in recent weeks
--FT says it has now secured the accounts
The Financial Times said its Tech Blog and various Twitter
accounts were hacked on Friday by a group identifying itself as the
Syrian Electronic Army.
"Apologies, we have been hacked and you may see tweets not from
the FT," the news organization wrote on its Financial Times Live
Twitter feed.
Seconds before the note was published, two messages populated
the newspaper's Twitter feed, including one stating "Syrian
Electronic Army Was Here," and another including a link to a
YouTube video of several bound and blindfolded individuals who
appeared to be shown being executed. Both messages were quickly
removed.
The Syrian group describes itself as "a group of enthusiastic
Syrian youths" who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In an emailed statement, the FT confirmed that various Twitter
accounts and one FT blog were compromised by hackers. The paper had
previously said on Twitter that various blogs had been
compromised.
"We have now secured those accounts and are working to resolve
the issue as quickly as possible," a spokesperson for the FT
said.
In an article on the FT's website, the paper said 12 posts
titled "Hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army" appeared on its Tech
blog between 8:38 a.m. and 8:42 a.m. on Friday. It also said
several employees had been sent phishing emails in the days leading
up to the attack.
The hacking of the FT properties comes less than a month after
the Associated Press' Twitter account was briefly hijacked. The
hackers posted a false message reporting that President Barack
Obama was injured by explosions at the White House, sending the
stock market plummeting. That hacking too was attributed to the
Syrian Electronic Army.
Shortly after the AP's announcement, The Guardian newspaper in
London also said its Twitter accounts had been hacked by the same
group. And earlier this month, the Twitter account of news parody
site The Onion became another target for the Syrian hackers.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@dowjones.com and Saabira
Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@dowjones.com
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