Media is going down…. | http://t.co/Gd1zB70v0g | http://t.co/8NUe7Cs2jm | http://t.co/QDdNdEuuVX | http://t.co/W9nmxo95PQ
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) August 27, 2013
Melbourne IT, who hosted the affected servers, issued a statement confirming the attack, reported by Matthew Keys:Hi @Twitter, look at your domain, its owned by #SEA :) http://t.co/ZMfpo1t3oG pic.twitter.com/ck7brWtUhK
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) August 27, 2013
The credentials of a Melbourne IT reseller (username and password) were used to access a reseller account on Melbourne IT’s systems.
The DNS records of several domain names on that reseller account were changed – including nytimes.com
Twitter also released their own statement shortly after that claimed no user information had been compromised:We are currently reviewing our logs to see if we can obtain information on the identity of the party that has used the reseller credentials, and we will share this information with the reseller and any relevant law enforcement bodies.
At 20:49 UTC, our DNS provider experienced an issue in which it appears DNS records for various organisations were modified, including one of Twitter’s domains used for image serving. Viewing of images and photos was sporadically impacted. By 22:29 UTC, the original domain record for Twimg.com was restored. No Twitter user information was affected by this incident.
Th3Pr0: We hit Melbourne IT and gained access to all the company domains, however we attacked Twitter after they closed our account 15 time and we did warned them.Last time we spoke, you said the Syrian Electronic Army had no contact with the Syrian government. Is that still the case?
We contacted the Syrian government lately to deliver the databases of Viber.com, Tango.me and TrueCaller.com.And why would these websites be important to the Syrian government?
Huge numbers of terrorists use Viber and Tango for contacting (communication).Tell us more about the recent website attacks. They are much more advanced than your previous ones.
We have many types of attacks and we use a certain type depending on the target and how secure it is.Who do you feel is responsible for the chemical attacks?
Of course, the terrorist groups like AlNusra and the FSA, as commanded by the USA to be the means and justification to strike Syria militarily.What evidence do you have to support your view?
The Syrian army won't/wouldn't use chemical weapons, and a military official has stated that this is political suicide. In addition, the fast progress by the Syrian army in Al-Ghouta.If you believe the rebels have the technology to use chemical weapons, why have they not targeted the Syrian army with them?
They have indeed used it against the army in Khan Al-Assal and Jobar. But the "Ghouta massacre" is to justify American military intervention because of the failure of these groups to accomplish tangible progress on the ground and shift the power balance to their favour.
Most of those affected were women and children, and not a single terrorist, photographer or reporter for a channel of "coordination committees" was there, which stands as an obstacle in accusing the regime. Also, how did they go to an area where "chemical weapons" were allegedly used and start filming the dead and talking without gas masks?Foreign Policy published this yesterday:
What is your response to these allegations?"Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by US intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime – and why the US military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days."
As I have said before, it is not in the best [interest] of the Syrian state to use chemical weapons when the army is making such significant progress. It is foolish to use these weapons against women and children and not use it against terrorist fighters.If, and I mean hypothetically if, it turns out the regime was directly responsible for the chemical attacks, would it change your position at all?
Of course not, and it won't happen. The Syrian army soldiers are loyal, patriotic Syrians who would never use these types of weapons against the innocent. If it were actually to be used, it would be against the terrorist rebels. Most opposition fighters are mercenaries from Arab and foreign states. They are not Syrian and murdering Syrians is normal to them. They are sent by their masters to destroy Syria and kill its people.
No, nothing has changed. We were prepared for such a scenario and such a [staged] "film" as a reason to strike Syria.How far do you think Western governments might be prepared to go?
Whatever their plans may be, we will stay and resist.Are you guys worried you might be targeted?
No, we are not worried and will stay in Syria determined and resistant.Are there any particular issues you feel are not being heard enough?
Yes, like the massacres that occurred in the rural areas in Lattakia, where dozens of families were slaughtered by the terrorist groups and the media never mentioned it.Follow Dell (@Dell) and Oz (@Oz) on Twitter.More powwows with the SEA:The Syrian Electronic Army Talks About Hacking the 'Guardian' and Their Obama Bomb HoaxSpeaking with an Alleged Member of the SEA About the 'Onion' Twitter HackMore from Syria: Ground Zero: Syria