Microsoft Attacked By Syrian Electronic Army

Microsoft has become the latest victim of hacking by the Syrian Electronic Army, less than two weeks after the company’s Skype social media accounts were hijacked by the same organisation.

The hacker group reportedly took over the @MSFTnews Twitter accounts for around an hour on Saturday, retweeting an update from the @Official_SEA16 account that accused Microsoft of monitoring users’ accounts and selling the data on to governments, and then posting: “Syrian Electronic Army was here”.

The group also hacked a Microsoft Xbox support account (@XboxSupport) and posted several messages linking to the Syrian Electronic Army website and Twitter account.

In a statement to technology news site Mashable, an SEA member called “Syrian Eagle” said that the group had targeted Microsoft because it allegedly monitors emails accounts and sells the data to American intelligence agencies and other governments.

“Microsoft is not our enemy but what they are doing affected the SEA,” the member said.