Syrian Electronic Army Strikes Again: SEA Hacks GlobalPost, Deletes Content

GlobalPost, an online news organization based in Boston, said it was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army for the second time this week. The pro-Assad hacker collective deleted nearly all of the website's content. As of this writing, the content was still missing and links to GlobalPost articles drew the following message.

GlobalPost identified the SEA as the culprits on Twitter. Editor Thomas Mucha said the company would continue to post the day's news on social media while it battles the hackers.

The SEA first attacked GlobalPost on Monday by hijacking its Twitter account, which was followed by a cyberattack on its website.

The SEA hackers proved they had access by sharing the website’s administration panel.

The SEA claimed the attack was inspired by an article (currently unavailable because of Wednesday’s hack) that published the names of innocent people and falsely accused them as being affiliated with the SEA. The article focused on a cyberwar between Anonymous and the SEA that started after a hacker associated with Anonymous claimed that he or she had acquired information about the identities of SEA members.

The SEA didn’t remove the article and said that it left that choice up to GlobalPost, the implicit message being that it would follow with another attack if GlobalPost didn't remove the article on its own. Wednesday’s attack appears to be making good on that threat.

The hack on GlobalPost comes about a month after SEA took down The New York Times’ website. The SEA also took credit for cyberattacks on The Washington Post and a handful of high-profile Twitter accounts including Thomson Reuters, Financial Times and the Associated Press. The FBI officially added the SEA to its wanted list in early September.