Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Skype Social Pages And Blog

The Syrian Electronic Army has started the year with a bang, taking over Microsoft’s Skype social accounts, including its Facebook, Twitter and blog, and posting messages accusing the firm of spying.

The attack took place on New Year’s Day, with various messages warning of Microsoft and Skype’s alleged work with the US National Security Agency’s surveillance programmes placed across the VoIP provider’s accounts.

Leaks from Edward Snowden in 2013 indicated Skype was a willing participant in the PRISM project, which collected data on users from major Internet users.

Syrian Electronic Army vs. America

Microsoft has repeatedly said it only hands information to the NSA when it is legally obliged to do so. It has also called on the US government to curb mass surveillance, whilst asking to be granted more access to global data.

The attackers wrote on the Skype blog: “Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army. Stop Spying!”

A message on Skype’s Twitter suggested users should not trust Microsoft’s web services, as seen below.

Skype has now regained control of its various accounts. “You may have noticed our social media properties were targeted today. No user info was compromised. We’re sorry for the inconvenience,” a message on its Twitter page read.

The Skype blog, however, is currently redirecting users to the service’s homepage as it seeks to recover from the attacks.

A Microsoft spokesperson added: ““We recently became aware of a targeted cyber-attack that led to access to Skype’s social media properties, but these credentials were quickly reset. No user information was compromised.”

The Syrian Electronic Army was relatively quiet in the second half of last year, having claimed major scalps earlier in the year, including the New York Times and Channel 4 in the UK.

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