Syrian Electronic Army claims hack of Army, Stracom websites
The sites were forced offline after being defaced by a group demanding an end to U.S. training of rebel fighters in Syria.
This article has been updated with additional information.
The Syrian Electronic Army apparently forced the websites of the Army, U.S. Strategic Command and the Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) offline temporarily Monday. Defense officials reportedly confirmed to NBC News that the sites were hacked by a group demanding that the U.S. military stop training rebel forces in Syria. The websites have since been restored.
RDECOM acknowledged on Twitter early Monday afternoon that the Army’s website was down.
Attackers claiming to be the Syrian Electronic Army took credit for the attacks, posting screenshots of the website defacements on Twitter , Ars Technica reported. The screenshots were posted on the SEA’s Twitter feed, and included one message that read: "Your commanders admit they are training the people they have sent you to die fighting."
The SEA is a group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and has been active online for the last four years, targeting government websites, media outlets and U.S. defense contractors.
Unlike the recent hack of an estimated 4 million Office of Personnel and Management records on current and former U.S. government employees from, the hacked Army sites contain no sensitive information and the Army issued a statement saying no data was breached.
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