Two of Microsoft’s Twitter accounts as well as its primary blog were knocked offline over the weekend by a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army.
Computerworld U.S. reports that Microsoft regained control over the accounts within hours, but it was the second successful attack on the company’s social media sites since the year started. The SEA hijacked Microsoft-owned Sykpe’s Twitter, blog and Facebook page.
It’s another example of how nations – or groups supporting nations – are using cyber warfare as a political tactic.
It’s believed the SEA, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is targeting Western websites, companies and human rights organizations to protest support for groups trying to overthrow the al-Assad regime.
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The attacks are aimed at undermining the economic stability of the targets. For example, the SEA posted messages on the Microsoft accounts urging readers not to use Microsoft services like Hotmail and Outlook. The SEA also posted images of what it said were email from Microsoft officials that mentioned a backdoor has been found.