As the conflict in Syria continues, it appears that the conflict has escalated to a different means of retaliation.
A group of hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) managed to hack into multiple online media and news outlets, including Twitter and The New York Times, last week.
The SEA was able to breach Melbourne IT, one of the largest domain registrars in Australia, according to The New Yorker.
By doing this, the SEA was able to easily hack into the system by use of a technique called “spearphishing.”
Although the hacking incidents were skillfully done to affect various websites, spearphishing is a simple technique used by hackers worldwide.
According to the FBI website, spearphishing is a “virtual trap set by cyber thieves that uses official-looking e-mails to lure you to fake websites and trick you into revealing your personal information.”
The SEA has already adapted and started targeting third party services that media rely on.
Because of the rapidity of the hacking incidences, additional measures of security must be enacted in order to keep websites safe.
It is evident that the SEA is a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Reuters reported that “records showed that NYTimes.com, the only site with an hours-long outage, redirected visitors to a server controlled by the Syrian group before it went dark.”
While President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to strike Syria rests in the hands of Congress, the SEA is wasting no time on infiltrating a very important aspect of our media system.
The media and journalists are a very important part of the this equation.
Journalists face danger of abduction and even death due to the violence happening in Syria.
It seems that Syria is attempting to keep things undercover, and some Syrians see journalists as a major threat to their cause.
According to Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Syria is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.
According to Reuters, 39 journalists were killed in Syria in 2012. 21 journalists were kidnapped.
While unjust acts continue to be committed unto the people of Syria, journalists will not stop covering the news that must be told.
Fighting with weapons is one way of waging a deadly war. Infiltrating our news systems may be another.
Jovanna Madrigal is a junior journalism major and an assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.
