Syrian hackers claim responsibility for disrupting Twitter, New York Times Web site

By Hayley Tsukayama and Paul Farhi, WashPost, Published: August 27

The New York Times and Twitter on Tuesday became the latest American media organizations to succumb to hacking attacks, in another series of disruptions apparently caused by the shadowy group known as the Syrian Electronic Army.

The SEA, which is aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, asserted responsibility for disrupting access to the sites starting in the late afternoon. But neither the Times nor Twitter cited a specific source.

Little is known about the members of the SEA, but the group appears to be based in Syria, a country split by civil war and facing the threat of a military strike by the United States and its allies over the Assad government’s alleged use of chemical weapons.

The hacking group has been responsible for earlier digital attacks on Britain’s Guardian newspaper, the Associated Press and The Washington Post. It was behind an incident that briefly redirected some readers to the group’s Web site when they were attempting to reach some articles on The Post’s Web site.

(More here.)