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Hackers Hijack Reuters Twitter Account

Hacktivists with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) have hijacked another high profile Twitter account. This time the group successfully took over the Thomson Reuters feed, and they allegedly also targeted the White House. CNET’s Steven Musil reported, “The Twitter account belonging to media and financial information firm Thomson Reuters was suspended Monday after becoming the […]

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Cynthia Harvey

Jul 30, 2013

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Hacktivists with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) have hijacked another high profile Twitter account. This time the group successfully took over the Thomson Reuters feed, and they allegedly also targeted the White House.

CNET’s Steven Musil reported, “The Twitter account belonging to media and financial information firm Thomson Reuters was suspended Monday after becoming the latest victim of the Syrian Electronic Army. The hacking group appears to have commandeered the @ThomsonReuters account around 3:30 p.m. PT, tweeting links to several political cartoons supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad.”

The International Business Times posted a statement from Reuters, which said, “Earlier today @thomsonreuters was hacked. In this time, unauthorized individuals have posted fabricated tweets of which Thomson Reuters is not the source. The account has been suspended and is currently under investigation.”

The Register’s John Leyden noted, “Reuters is the latest in a long line of media organisations perceived to be pro-rebel or against the Assad regime to be pwned by the SEA. Previous victims include The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Al Jazeera and The Onion. An attack on the Associated Press in April was used to falsely claim the White House had been bombed and President Barack Obama injured, leading to a temporary dip in stock exchanges.”

PCMag’s Chloe Albanesius added, “Thomson Reuters was not the only one hit by the Syrian Electronic Army in recent days; White House staffers were also targeted by the hackers.” On its website, the SEA claimed to have “some success” in the White House attack.