The Syrian Electronic Army, a group of Syrian hackers who frequently target media companies from the U.S., has struck again. This time, Microsoft was the SEA’s target.
Microsoft’s Twitter account and blog were hacked on Saturday with messages from the Syrian Electronic Army. These invasions were quickly deleted, although the SEA took screencaps and posted them on Twitter:
The Official Microsoft Blog: Syrian Electronic Army Was Here #SEA pic.twitter.com/CzYH5jMrY8
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) January 12, 2014
#Microsoft #SEA pic.twitter.com/Xnzq92PbkN
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) January 11, 2014
This is the second attack on Microsoft in 2014, a sign that the SEA is seriously pissed off at the company. On January 1, Skype (which is owned by Microsoft) was hacked with an anti-Microsoft message that accused the company of spying on people. The SEA has primarily focused its attacks on organizations that criticize Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but this persistent focus on Microsoft suggests the group has shifted its focus to damaging companies it believes participate in government surveillance.
Mashable followed the story and reached out to Microsoft to see how the company was weathering the attack. “”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,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Mashable.
Unless Microsoft actually changes its policies and not just its passwords, this is probably not the last attack they company will weather from the SEA. The group has no reason not to attack Microsoft again; it hasn’t run into legal trouble, and each time it successfully breaks into an account and takes it over, the mission gains more attention. Microsoft may have to substantially step up security to avoid future attacks.
