14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of days ago, Brian Krebs and Vice Motherboard published articles in which they claimed to have identified two alleged members of the notorious Syrian Electronic Army.
In the meantime, Krebs was contacted by Mohammed Osman, the man he identified as being a key member of the hacker group. Osman, who is said to be a web designer, denies being part of the Syrian Electronic Army.
In addition, he claims that Muhammad Abed Al-Karim is one of his clients, not his new identity as Krebs determined.
Vice also updated its article and removed the picture of the alleged SEA hacker. The publication still believes that ThePro is one Hatem Deeb. However, they’re not sure that he’s the 19-year-old whose picture they initially published.
In the meantime, ThePro told journalist Matthew Keys that he wasn’t Deeb. The hacker says Deeb is only an “innocent friend” who no longer lives in Syria.
The hacker says Vice’s article could put Deeb’s life in danger, which is why he’s asking Vice to remove the article.
Initially, he gave the publication a 24-hour deadline to remove the post, but he later stated that Vice would be dealt with at a later time.
In a short statement published on Thursday, the Syrian Electronic Army sent the following message to Brian Krebs and Vice: “What if the innocent persons names that you published were been tracked and killed by FSA before you update your articles, is that what security/media about?”
This wouldn’t be the first time when the Syrian Electronic Army targets a website because of an article related to the group. A few weeks ago, they hacked The Daily Dot after the site included a caricature of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an article.
If they go after Vice, it’s likely that the hackers will rely on spear phishing to carry out their attack.