Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Marine Website, Saying US Is Supporting Al Qaeda

An official recruitment website for the U.S. Marine Corps was hacked by a group claiming to be the Syrian Electronic Army Monday.

A Marine spokesman, Capt. Eric Flanagan, confirmed the cyberattack, The Wall Street Journal reported. By midday EDT, the site, marines.com, appeared to be back to normal.

The message on the page, according to a screen shot posted by the Independent newspaper in Britain, called on Marines to support their “brothers, the Syrian army soldiers” against a common enemy, al Qaeda, parts of which are fighting for the rebels.

SEA formed as a collective pro-Syrian government hacking group in 2011. It is unclear if SEA is under the control of the Assad government.

Last week the group claimed that it shut down Twitter, the Huffington Post and The New York Times site. The group threatened that it would launch additional cyberattacks on the U.S. government and media if the Obama administration launches a strike against Syria.

The message posted on the Marine’s site said President Barack Obama is "a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue Al Qaeda insurgents.” It said Marines should take a look at why Obama is “allying” himself with Al Qaeda, since the terrorist organization is fighting against Syria itself.

Experts say the SEA has so far just defaced websites and not shown a capacity for damaging cyber warfare. In an interview with Wired, a claimed SEA spokesman said the group has tens of thousands of members, all located in Syria.