The New York Times has confirmed that its website has been taken offline by hackers, likely as part of a “malicious external attack.”
The New York Times Web site is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working on fully restoring the site.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 27, 2013
re: http://t.co/BQE1fJ3uLx – initial assessment – issue is most likely result of malicious external attack. working to fix
— Eileen Murphy (@NYTeileen) August 27, 2013
This is what a "malicious external attack" has done to @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/zc4GF8Bvqv
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) August 27, 2013
The Syrian Electronic Army, which has quite an impressive record of hacking into media outlets, hasn’t claimed responsibility, but some are already pointing fingers.
syrian electronic army? RT @weeddude: NYTimes tells @sarahfrier suspect their website has been hacked
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) August 27, 2013
https://twitter.com/jamesrbuk/status/372460739677929472
https://twitter.com/bambenek/status/372457041459048448
NYTimes DNS is compromised. Pointing to Syrian Electronic Army domain. http://t.co/wfJugHQ155 pic.twitter.com/Vhf35kuQAP
— Matt Jay (@mattjay) August 27, 2013
https://twitter.com/AlexJamesFitz/status/372462322373390336
Eventually http://t.co/NUjb5aOphi takes me to http://t.co/ILfRGAsQ8U the hacked DNS entry for Twitter's image server pic.twitter.com/1W1Rz5iZkq
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) August 27, 2013
Uh oh: Some are reporting problems with the Wall Street Journal as well.
Free read @WSJ paywall is down. http://t.co/SoKzGPewUF
— Dow Jones (@DowJones) August 27, 2013
Free read @WSJ paywall is down
— WSJ Communications (@WSJPR) August 27, 2013
The New York Times isn’t the only one whose DNS seems to have been taken over. This is big.
Recommended
Um guys I think @twitter just lost its domain to the Syrian Electronic Army http://t.co/qQm8OkvxWX pic.twitter.com/eDUmlCG6gn
— Brian ? Ries (@moneyries) August 27, 2013
Syrian Electronic Army now hosting new domains on their IP. Domains belong to @NyTimes and @Twitter. pic.twitter.com/htv6TLAxJv
— Jaeson Schultz (@jaesonschultz) August 27, 2013
https://twitter.com/scottvdp/status/372457856340987904
the SEA apparenly just hijacked twitter's domain name, so expect downtime
— Noisemaker (@neilkli) August 27, 2013
Someone calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army has claimed credit for hacking Twitter.
Hi @Twitter, look at your domain, its owned by #SEA 🙂 http://t.co/ZMfpo1t3oG pic.twitter.com/ck7brWtUhK
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) August 27, 2013
https://twitter.com/nikhilgoya_l/status/372463967735517184
Business Insider is reporting that the disappearing Wall Street Journal paywall isn’t the work of hackers but an attempt by the Journal’s marketing folks to scoop up some of the Times’ displaced readership. Clever, or cold?
Hackers Take Down The New York Times — And The Wall Street Journal Immediately Pounces http://t.co/J4xsyuTT7y
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) August 27, 2013
https://twitter.com/jwherrman/status/372472491085537281
This is mean RT @DowJones: Free read @WSJ paywall is down. http://t.co/5Q9YISmZdb
— John Cook (@johnjcook) August 27, 2013
Oh, man, this is first-class dickery right here –> RT @DowJones Free read @WSJ paywall is down. http://t.co/dYyrRowxpH
— Andrew Exum (@ExumAM) August 27, 2013
WSJ pulling its paywall when NYT is under attack was classless last time, and classless this time.
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) August 27, 2013
Imagine a newspaper's printing facility was burned down by an arsonist. Would it be clever/snarky of the rival paper to make light?Or crass?
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) August 27, 2013
* * *
Update: The Huffington Post UK has been compromised as well.
Syrian Electronic Army now claims name servers of @HuffPostUK: "Media is going down." https://t.co/SqJ4f5aDAu pic.twitter.com/j5qbUtuewv
— Brian ? Ries (@moneyries) August 27, 2013
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets and the headline amended to reflect developments.
Related:
‘Ops! AP get owned’: Syrian Electronic Army claims credit for AP hack job
Syrian Electronic Army claims responsibility for hacking ‘60 Minutes’ feed
Syrian Electronic Army hacks into Human Rights Watch’s Twitter account
Join the conversation as a VIP Member