Syrian Electronic Army Hacks UK Newspapers




/ 10 years ago

syrian electronic army

 

The websites of UK newspapers the Independent, the Telegraph, and the Evening Standard, as well as a handful of other high-profile sites, have been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army. Other victims include OK magazine and the official National Hockey League website. Some visitors to these sites were presented with a pop-up, saying, “you have been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army”. It is thought that they exploited a flaw in the sites’ ad delivery network.

A security consultant at Kroll Cyber, Ernest Hilbert, is familiar with the exploit used, saying, “it was Gigya.” Gigya is a tech company that offers customer identity management for websites. The Syrian Electronic Army exploited a vulnerability with the Gigya CDN that allowed it to change the DNS entry. Hilbert continues, “It is a DNS takeover, and this is what the Syrian Electronic Army does. Normally, you type in a URL, it goes to a domain name server, and it says ‘those words equal this website”.

The attack fits the pattern of past Syrian Electronic Army hacks; news and entertainment outlets compromised, but with no particular political agenda at play. Past targets include BBC News, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, and The Onion.

Source: The Guardian


Topics: , ,

Support eTeknix.com

By supporting eTeknix, you help us grow and continue to bring you the latest newsreviews, and competitions. Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest technology news, reviews and more. Share your favourite articles, chat with the team and more. Also check out eTeknix YouTube, where you'll find our latest video reviews, event coverage and features in 4K!

Looking for more exciting features on the latest technology? Check out our What We Know So Far section or our Fun Reads for some interesting original features.

eTeknix Facebook eTeknix Twitter eTeknix Instagram eTeknix Instagram
  • Be Social With eTeknix

    Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Reddit RSS Discord Patreon TikTok Twitch
  • Features


Send this to a friend
})