Photo Credit: TheDrum
Remember that Syrian hacking group that hacked the Facebook, Twitter and Blog accounts of Skype which we reported here? They strike yet again!
The "Syrian Electronic Army", better known simply as #SEA, targetted Microsoft yet again. They started off by hacking the Twitter account of Xbox Support and tweeted links and messages. Mainly, "Syrian Electronic Army was here via @Official_SEA16 #SEA" of which a picture you can see above.
According to TheDrum, this lasted for 45 minutes until Microsoft got the Twitter account back and deleted the tweets.
After the Xbox Support Twitter's hacking, #SEA recently struck again and hacked the Microsoft News Twitter account, again making multiple tweets, mainly the "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here via @Official_SEA16 #SEA", this time with a picture:
Photo Credit: Mashable
Photo Credit: Mashable
A Microsoft spokesperson stated about the Twitter hackings that:
Microsoft is aware of targeted cyberattacks that temporarily affected the Xbox Support and Microsoft News Twitter accounts. The accounts were quickly reset and we can confirm that no customer information was compromised.
The "Syrian Electronic Army" did not stop just yet, they further went on to hack a Blog connected to Microsoft called "The Official Microsoft Blog", posting messages redirecting to the Syrian Electronic Army's website. According to Mashable, the Blog was functioning fine for some users, while others(including Mashable) saw it this way:
Photo Credit: Mashable
The Blog was eventually taken down later. Microsoft did not comment on the hacking of the Blog, but they responded to #SEA's allegations of selling the user data to American and other foreign agencies that:
We’re actively investigating issues and are focused on protecting our employees and corporate network. Microsoft is sometimes obligated to comply with legal orders from governments around the world and provides customer data only in response to specific, targeted, legal demands.
The Blog is back online by now, and the hack posts are gone. A member of the Syrian Electronic Army called "Syrian Eagle" told Mashable in an email that "We can only say that's just the beginning". Mashable asked why #SEA targetted Microsoft, the member Syrian Eagle replied:
When asked why the SEA targeted Microsoft, Syrian Eagle provided the following response:
Microsoft is monitoring emails accounts and selling the data for the American intelligence and other governments. And we will publish more details and documents that prove it. Microsoft is not our enemy but what they are doing affected the SEA.