The Syrian Electronic Army hacked some of CNN’s Twitter accounts Thursday, along with some of the media network’s blogs. The affected accounts also included its main Facebook account, the CNN Politics Facebook account, and the Twitter pages for CNN and CNN’s Security Clearance. The Situation Room and Crossfire were also compromised.
It isn’t the first time the SEA has hacked a major US news network. Its other exploits include the Washington Post, the New York Times website, Columbia University, Human Rights Watch, and the Associated Press. In the latter case, the group sent out a tweet claiming there was an attack on the White House and the president was injured.
CNN deleted the tweets within minutes, but not before screencapping them. One of the posts claimed, “Syrian Electronic Army Was Here…Stop lying… All your reports are fake!” Another read, “Long live #Syria.”
Yes, it happens to us, too. CNN accounts hacked. https://t.co/K2rmTKITA5 pic.twitter.com/dOPj4G6T4x
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 24, 2014
Company spokesman Matt Dornic explained in an email to Yahoo! News, “Some of the organization’s social media accounts were compromised via a third-party social publishing platform. We are working with the affected users and vendor to remedy the issue.”
After the hack, the group posted an update on one of its accounts, explaining that the incident was in retaliation for “viciously lying reporting aimed at prolonging the suffering in Syria.” While the SEA isn’t directly related to the Syrian regime, it describes itself as being made up of “patriotic” young Syrians who protest how the Assad regime has been portrayed since the country’s civil war began.
CNN explained that all of its accounts are now secure.
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