14 DAY TRIAL // A new report from the TRADOC G-2 Intelligence Support Activity’s (TRISA) Complex Operation Environment and Threat Integration Directorate (CTID) warns the US Army of the cyberattacks launched by the notorious pro-Assad hacker group known as the Syrian Electronic Army.
The report, obtained by journalist Matthew Keys, details the Syrian Electronic Army’s latest operations, particularly the cyberattack launched against high-profile websites from Qatar.
“Since its inception in 2011, the SEA has conducted nuisance attacks on numerous sites around the world in support of the Syrian government. News agencies, government agencies, universities and even the US Marine Corps recruiting site have been targets of SEA’s cyber attacks,” the report reads.
The document details the hacktivist group’s techniques, goals and operations.
It also provides a timeline of the attacks launched by SEA, including the ones against the University of California Los Angeles (July 2011), Harvard University (September 2011), LinkedIn (April 2012), Reuters (August 2012), Sky News Arabia (February 2013), the Associated Press (April 2013) and US President Barack Obama (October 2013).
The unclassified OEA Team Threat Report provides the anatomy of the attack against Qatar, in which the hackers gained access to a registrar’s databases and altered DNS records to make it look as if several high-profile websites were defaced.
At the time, SEA members told Softpedia that they targeted Qatar because the country supported the terrorists in Syria.
“The SEA is clearly a force of disruption, and the long-term implications of its continued presence might very well remain what they are today – primarily a nuisance – or the implications might become more serious if the SEA’s message gains greater influence,” the document warns.
The report references several news articles, including ones from the BBC, USA Today, Wired, The Daily Dot, Reuters, Tech Crunch, The Atlantic Wire, E Hacking News and Softpedia.