The SEA Attacks Microsoft…Again

The SEA (Syrian Electronic Army) has struck again.  They seized control of many Saudi Arabian government websites this past week.
The SEA attacked Microsoft along with 16 other Saudi domains and tweeted the names and links of the domains with #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerorism.

The 16 domains offline but here are the Tweets:
Tweet1: Riyadh Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | riyadh.gov.sa/   #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet2: Aldoriyah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.aldoriyah.gov.sa/  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet3: Almajmah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://almajmah.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet4: Almuzahmiyah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.almuzahmiyah.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet5: Shaqra Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.shaqra.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet6: Huraymila Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.huraymila.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet7: Alghat Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.alghat.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet8: Alquwayiyah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.alquwayiyah.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet9: Alduwadimi Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.alduwadimi.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet10: Alohtah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.alhotah.gov.sa/  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet11: Alshariq Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army| http://www.alhariq.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet12: Alsulayyl Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.alsulayyl.gov.sa/  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
Tweet13: Thadiq Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.thadiq.gov.sa//  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet14: Duruma Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.duruma.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet15: Rumah Principality website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.rumah.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism #SaudiArabia
Tweet16: Riyadh Principality magazine website hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army | http://www.imara-mag.gov.sa  #SEA #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism
The SEA was lashed at from security analyst Graham Cluley on Wednesday, he reported teh Turkish hacking collective TurkGuvenligi breached the Syrian Electronic Army’s website.

“You imbeciles will attack our country with fake phishing emails and we’ll accept your lies and don’t do anything? This is the end you deserve,” TurkGuvenligi wrote in a message on the SEA’s site, above a verse from the Quran.

The hacker fight broke out against the SEA’s campaign against Microsoft on January 1st.

The SEA Attack

The SEA attacked Microsoft over Skype’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.  Another SEA attack to Microsoft happened when the company’s internal emails and tweeting screenshots of employees’ messages were took from their business Outlook accounts.
Xbox and the Microsoft news blog accounts were also affected.  The SEA attack on Microsoft hasn’t ended yet.
The SEA tweeted Wednesday, “We didn’t finish our attack on Microsoft yet,” and “Stay tuned for more!”

This message also implies that Saudi Arabian hacks will continue, as well.
The Syrian Electronic Army has been sending this type of message out since September 2012.
The hackers started attacking Western websites in retaliation for Innocence of Muslims.  There was an anti-Islamic video resulting in the violent demonstrations in the Middle East as a result.
Last year the SEA attacked many well known sites, including The Guardian, the New York Times, the BBC, the Financial Times, and The Onion.
Popular chat apps like Viber and Tango were also attacked.
What SEA attack have you seen lately?  Are they showing up on your Twitter feed?  Please share with us your story!
Don’t miss out on the latest tech news and computer security alerts! Follow us on Twitter at @hyphenet,  “Like” us on Facebook or add us to your circle on Google+
References:
Syrian Hackers Hijack Saudi Sites, Target Microsoft (Again) – PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2429607,00.asp

Skype’s social media accounts attacked, Syrian Electronic Army takes responsibility

Skype’s social media was targeted by the Syrian Electronic Army over the week.

“You may have noticed our social media properties were targeted today,” Skype said in a Twitter message late Wednesday.  “No user info was compromised.  We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

All of Skype’s social media accounts appeared to have been attacked by the SEA, including their Twitter, blog and Facebook page.

The Skype blog was inaccessible late Wednesday and redirected users to the Skype homepage.  At least it was redirected back to home instead a malicious site.

The SEA also created a Twitter message that looked as followed:

The message read: “Don’t use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments.More details soon #SEA.”

The SEA then posted on Twitter to contact information purportedly of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Stating: “You can thank Microsoft for monitoring your accounts/emails using this details.”

Similar messages were posted on Skype’s Facebook page, but it was deleted very quickly, according to TheNextWeb.

The attack on Skype’s accounts appears to link to the same disclosures through newspapers by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that Internet companies have provided the agency real-time access to content on their servers for watchful purposes.

The SEA has aimed for high-profile websites and Twitter accounts.  In August, an attack was supposedly by SEA on Melbourne IT, and Australian domain registrar.  This affected websites of The New York Times, Twitter and other companies.

A long run

Since the rise of the SEA in 2011, the organization has denied association with the Syrian government.
They claim to not be associated with the government, and are not acting on its behalf.

In 2013 the SEA claimed responsibility for hacking into a number of media outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and Thomson Reuters.  Everyone was taken back when they penetrated the Associated Press twitter account and posted President Barack Obama has been injured in a White House attack.

The exploration into Microsoft’s collaboration on data sharing with the NSA discovered that the transfer of some data to affiliate companies from these attacks seems “to take place lawfully” under a so-called Safe Harbor agreement.

What do you think about the Syrian Electronic Army?  Have you seen these attacks on your social media sites?  Please leave your comments below, we would love to hear from you!

Don’t miss out on the latest tech news and computer security alerts! Follow us on Twitter at @hyphenet,  “Like” us on Facebook or add us to your circle on Google+.

References:

‘Stop spying on people!’: Syrian Electronic Army hacks Skype – RT
http://rt.com/news/syrian-electronic-army-skype-072/

Skype’s social media accounts hijacked by Syrian Electronic Army – PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2083540/skypes-social-media-accounts-targeted…

U.S. Marine Corps Website Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

Pro Syria hackers attacked the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting website, Marines.com this past Monday.  None of the websites information was  put at risk.  Although, the website was tampered with, it redirected visitors to  another site with images of people wearing U.S. military uniforms holding signs that read, “I will not fight for Al Qaeda” and “I didn’t join the Marine Corps to Fight for Al Qaeda in a Syrian civil war.”

Photo credit: Marine Corps website

The message on the compromised site was a plea for Americans to fight alongside the Syrian army and not aid the rebels.
Capt. Eric Flanagan, spokesman for the Marine Corps, unquestioned that the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility.
“The Syrian army should be your ally not your enemy,” the letter read.  “Refuse your orders and concentrate on the real reason every soldier joins their military, to defend their homeland.  You’re more than welcome to fight alongside our army rather than against it.”
This attack happened because the recruiting website is on a commercial network rather than the Pentagon’s network.  The U.S. government has decided to launch a limited strike on Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons on August 21, 2013.
A statement given from the Marines recruiting facility said, the site is now operating normally and they are monitoring the situation to prevent further attacks.
The Obama administration has now positioned a Navy ship carrying Marines in the Eastern Mediterranean.  U.S. officials said those Marines are not going to be a part of any strike on Syria.  The strike will most likely be carried out by cruise missiles fired out by Navy ships.
The SEA hacker group claimed responsibility for disrupting the New York Times, social media site Twitter and other websites.  The SEA told U.S. troops that the Syrian army was their ally rather than an enemy in fighting the common enemy of terrorism.
What are your thoughts on this website attack?  Is this a plea from the Syrian army or a maneuver to try and deceive Americans?
Don’t miss out on the latest tech news and computer security alerts! Follow us on Twitter at @hyphenet,  “Like” us on Facebook or add us to your circle on Google+.

References:
Pro-Syrian group hacks U.S. Marines website – USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/02/marines-hackers-syrian-electronic-army/2755265/
September 2, 2013
Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Marines Website – The Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/09/02/syrian-electronic-army-hacks-marines-website/
September 2, 2013
US Marines website hacked – DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1883662/report-us-marines-website-hacked

Viber Gets Attacked By Electronic Syrian Army

Viber's online help desk, an instant-messaging and VoIP service was phished by pro-Syrian hackers. They claimed to have accessed e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information belonging to the company's users and employees.

Viber has confirmed the situation in which they have been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army.  This is a pro-government group of hackers in Syria aligned with the President Bashar al-Assad.  AppleSpot reported the hack affected the Viber support page, although it was very unclear to the extent upon which hackers accessed Viber systems.

Viber has now verified that the only hack allowed access of two small systems.  One being a customer support panel and the other a support administration system.  According to the company's official response, "no sensitive user data was exposed and Viber's databases were not 'hacked'." Viber did not attest weather or not the attack cam from the Syrian Electronic Army, though the hacker group does take responsibility for the compromise. Viber did claim the hack was the product of a phishing attack that was pinpointed on one of their employees.

Viber's Story

Viber is a system that allows user to send free text mesages, photo messages, video messages and share locations with other users. Viber users can make free HD-quality calls to other Viber users on iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Windows, Mac, and many other devices. There are more than 200 million users in over 193 countries, Viber is repeatedly evolving by introducing new platforms and adding new features to gain popularity.

Please visit http://www.hyphenet.com/blog/ for more posts on the latest technology and IT security news.

References:
Viber Attacked By Syrian Electronic Army - TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/23/viber-attacked-by-syrian-electronic-army/
July 23, 2013

Viber’s online help desk sacked by pro-Syrian hackers - arstechnica
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/07/vibers-online-help-desk-sacked-by-pro-syrian-hackers/
July 23, 2013