‘HOLY HELL!’ Syrian Electronic Army hacks IDF account, sparks brief panic [pics]

Posted at 5:03 pm on July 3, 2014 by Sarah D.

This tweet was purportedly sent out from the official Israeli Defense Forces account this afternoon:

Needless to say, it got people’s attention:

"Uh oh" doesn't come close. RT @IDFSpokesperson: #WARNING: Possible nuclear leak in the region after 2 rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility
— Aron Papernick (@AronPapernick) July 3, 2014

Whoa! RT @IDFSpokesperson: #WARNING: Possible nuclear leak in the region after 2 rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) July 3, 2014

HOLY CRAP!!!!! RT @IDFSpokesperson: #WARNING: Possible nuclear leak in the region after 2 rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility
— TFC3Tweets (@TFC3Tweets) July 3, 2014

ICYMI, the IDF accidentally breaks Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity on Twitter of all places. pic.twitter.com/zvVPhpEuQ0
— Gerard Di Trolio (@GerardDiTrolio) July 3, 2014

UMMMMMM HOLY HELL! RT @fordm Uhh… MT @michaelroston: .@IDFSpokesperson just tweeted and deleted this tweet pic.twitter.com/Lpf4PDOvd2
— Jared M. Bruh (@JMBruh) July 3, 2014

https://twitter.com/Abd_al_Rahman__/status/484796914677067778

Many wondered if the IDF’s account had been hacked:

And then @IDFSpokesperson tweeted it again and deleted it again. Hacked?
— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) July 3, 2014

@ChaskelBennett @IDFSpokesperson sounds like a hack cause it was tweeted twice and deleted right away after each tweet.
— Pinny Ringel (@Pinnyringel) July 3, 2014

Looks like @IDFSpokesperson is fighting for control over their Twitter account
— Michael Rusch (@weeddude) July 3, 2014

@Zinvor @IDFSpokesperson Yeah looks like they tweeted it and deleted it seconds later. Maybe the SEA strikes again lol
— Dan (@dankmtl) July 3, 2014

This was indeed the work of the Syrian Electronic Army:

In case you missed the @IDFSpokesperson hack #SEA #Syria #Palestine pic.twitter.com/8nsk2sGH28
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) July 3, 2014

The whole "Israeli army" propaganda was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army #SEA #Syria #Palestne pic.twitter.com/Z1i5uuOzLp
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) July 3, 2014

Aside from the tweet getting deleted several times, this was another clue something fishy was going on:

Hacked RT @IDFSpokesperson: Always via @Official_SEA16 http://t.co/Kuq0ot0tVe Long live #Palestine
— Stefan Becket (@stefanjbecket) July 3, 2014

Wow I never thought I'd agree with @IDFSpokesperson but can't argue with this: pic.twitter.com/FCYyO4imar
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) July 3, 2014

The IDF is looking into it:

@IDFSpokesperson twitter account was hacked. No rockets on Dimona NPP nor leaks.
— ACRS-ME (@ACRSME) July 3, 2014

Re @IDFSpokesperson deleted tweet about nuclear leak, IDF tells me "obviously it didn't happen," now trying to find out how it got tweeted.
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) July 3, 2014

We apologize for the incorrect tweets Our twitter account was compromised. We will combat terror on all fronts including the cyber dimension
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 3, 2014

Sorry for the incorrect tweets distributed in the past few minutes. Our account @IDFSpokesperson was compromised. We are back on top of it.
— Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) July 3, 2014

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.

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