Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Blog Of Channel 4 Presenter Jon Snow
Fake nuclear bomb story posted on Snow’s blog, as Channel 4 blogs remain down
The Syrian Electronic Army has hacked the Channel 4 blog of crazy-tie-loving news presenter Jon Snow, posting some fake stories about nuclear bombs in the civil war-torn country.
The main Channel 4 blogs remain down, with an image of the IT Crowd accompanying an apology from the broadcaster. Channel 4 has confirmed that the blogs have been taken offline until a security review is completed.
Syrian Electronic Army’s latest hit…
Hackers from the pro-President Bashar al-Assad group posted a screenshot of the Channel 4 WordPress control panel to prove they were behind the attack.
A Google cache of Jon Snow’s blog showed a fake story claiming nuclear strikes had been targeting the Syrian regime.
Some believe Channel 4 was compromised as it was running an old version of WordPress, although the Syrian Electronic Army’s typical tactic is to dupe a target into handing over login details, via spear phishing attacks.
At least one organisation fell for the fake story, with the Centre for Research on Global Research posting a story citing the false report.
It hasn’t had the same impact as the attack on the Associated Press, when the hackers used the AP Twitter feed to claim explosions had rocked the White House and President Obama was injured. That sent the Dow Jones tumbling by over 140 points.
“Channel 4 can confirm Jon Snow’s blog was hacked on Monday 5 August and as a result has been taken down,” said a statement from the broadcaster. “It will be kept offline while security around it is reviewed,. We hope to have it back online very soon.”
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