Al Jazeera Network Faces Ongoing Hack Attacks

HSBC, security, hacking

Arabian media firm confirms cyber-attack on all its systems, including social media platforms

The Al Jazeera media network has confirmed that it being targeted by ‘continual hacking attempts’ amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

At the moment, it seems that the Qatar based broadcaster is successfully fending off these attacks, which apparently are targeting all its systems, websites, and social media platforms.

The attack comes amid spiralling tensions in the Middle East. Al-Jazeera is the flagship broadcaster in Qatar, a country which is currently involved in a stand-off with neighbouring Arab states over its alleged ties to terrorism.

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Ongoing Hack

Confirmation that the network was the victim of a cyber-attack was revealed by Al-Jazeera on Twitter.

“The websites and digital platforms of Al Jazeera Media Network are undergoing continual hacking attempts,” the network tweeted.

Qatar is a small kingdom in the Middle East, but it is facing the wrath of Saudi Arabia and its allies including the UAE and Egypt, all of whom have severed ties with the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and co are demanding that Qatar cut off all ties with Iran, expel resident members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and cease funding for terrorist organisations.

Al Jazeera itself has been accused of spreading fake news and slander.

And this is not the first time that the broadcaster has been the victim of a cyber attack. In 2012 for example Al Jazeera had its SMS service hacked by pro-Syrian government group.

That was the fourth time that year that the news network had been compromised by outside forces.

Rising Tensions

The Middle East has been experiencing rising tensions of late. The United States has banned electronics larger than smartphones in airline cabins on flights from certain nations in the Middle East and North Africa.

The UK is expected to follow its lead.

And in January the Trump administration issued an order that barred individuals holding passports from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, as part of the ‘extreme vetting’ promised by President Donald Trump.

However the original order and a second version have both met with legal challenges, which means they are not currently in force.

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