Pro-Assad Hackers Hit Marines Website

Computer hackers break into the Marine Corps recruiting website, call Obama "a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger."

Computer hackers who support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad broke on Monday into the Marine Corps recruiting website, reported the Associated Press.

The hackers redirected visitors to a screen that called U.S. President Barack Obama "a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue Al-Qaeda insurgents."

A Marine Corps spokesman confirmed that the site, marines.com, was tampered with and redirected temporarily, but no information was put at risk.

Capt. Eric Flanagan would not say who was responsible for the hacking, but the site was redirected to a message from the Syrian Electronic Army, a hacker group that has claimed responsibility for previous break-ins into other websites.

The message to the Marine Corps was a plea for Americans to fight alongside the Syrian army and not aide the rebels.

The Syrian Electronic Army is believed to be behind an attack last week on the website of the New York Times. The group also claimed credit for hacking into Twitter's registry account and changing information there.

Last April, the group took control of the Associated Press' official Twitter feed, and sent out a false message about two explosions at the White House and injury to the president.

Several weeks later, the group hacked the Twitter feed of satirical U.S. news website The Onion, posting comments and photos in line with similar intrusions at other news organizations.

The full message which the group posted on the Marines site, as quoted by AP, is:

“This is a message written by your brothers in the Syrian Army, who have been fighting Al-Qaeda for the last 3 years. We understand your patriotism and love for your country so please understand our love for ours. Obama is a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue Al-Qaeda insurgents.

Marines, please take a look at what your comrades think about Obama's alliance with Al-Qaeda against Syria. Your officer in charge probably has no qualms about sending you to die against soldiers just like you, fighting a vile common enemy. The Syrian army should be your ally not your enemy.

Refuse your orders and concentrate on the real reason every soldier joins their military, to defend their homeland. You're more than welcome to fight alongside our army rather than against it.

Your brothers, the Syrian army soldiers. A message delivered by the SEA.”

 

Hackers plan reprisal of Holocaust Memorial Day cyber attacks.

An English-language video posted to YouTube on Monday calls on Muslim hackers around the world to participate in a movement to bring down American and Israeli websites on September 11, marking the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

"Hi, Israel do you remember us?" the modified voice-over in the video asks, referring to previous hacking operations, as a kaffiya-clad Joker laughs at the audience. 



"We are the same people who f****d you on April 7. And now we are back. To punish you again," the voice declares, in reference to an April attempt, by the group Anonymous, to "erase Israel from the internet" on International Holocaust Memorial Day.

In their most recent operation, the group of technical militants announce the launch of a new operation,"#OpIsrael #Reborn." They then ask "all hacker Muslims to join their September 11 operation.

"There is no Israel in this map," the voice says in reference to ongoing Israeli-Palestinian political conflict, and a potential clue as to the intentions behind the operation. "No one recognizes you. Because it is Palestine."

The voice then poses a question to viewers. "Who are the terrorists?" it asks, while showing images of violent terrorist attacks.

It then calls on Americans and Israelis to expect an attack of some kind on September 11. "America, Israel. We will show you," it reiterates.

Toward the end, the video credits three separate hacker groups including Anonymous, who have attempted several similar operations, as well as lesser known groups, AnonGhost and Fallaga.

A logo with the words "Free Palestine" is printed across the last screenshot of the video, emphasizing the politics that are behind hacking schemes such as this.

Underneath the main text, in a barely visible font, the video pleas for the protection of all involved in the scheme. "May Allah help out hackers and mujahideen."

Government sites guard against hacking

Ministries and government agencies in the Kingdom have been on standby after receiving warnings of a new wave of hacking against their websites.
Warnings came after attacks were carried out on the websites of the Ministries of Interior, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Labor during the course of this year.
Government entities received this warning from higher authorities. A telegram from the Ministry of Interior warned government agencies against impending attacks after hacker groups defined their targeted websites.
The Ministry of Interior foiled these attacks by issuing warnings to higher authorities telling them about the groups' intentions, sources said.
Hackers intended to target university and ministry websites and the Ministry of Interior has called on agencies to take precautionary measures against such attacks.
The hackers also planned to target the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the sources said.
“Tens of hackers joined attempts aimed at disabling the websites of certain government offices. Most of these attacks aimed to block the services of these websites for minutes or hours at a time, depending on the strength of the attack and the website's ability to defend itself. Hacking attempts have failed to achieve serious breaches until now,” said Fayez Al-Barakati, a software expert at the Technical College in Jeddah.
Last April, a local daily published a report stating the Saudi National e-Security Center has conducted a campaign to raise the level of awareness among government employees and facilitate access to special security instructions for government authorities.
Government agencies warned against non-application of public policies and security procedures, which are related to information protection. It called on employees not to click on suspicious links and websites or links that are attached to e-mails in case they contain malicious programs and data theft attempts.