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Satirical US news site apparently hacked by Syrians [The Onion]
France24 ^ | 5/6/13

Posted on 05/06/2013 5:56:41 PM PDT by null and void

Satirical US news site apparently hacked by Syrians


The Twitter feed of satirical US news website The Onion appeared to have been hacked Monday by a Syrian group aiming to inject its own sardonic spin on the deadly conflict.

AFP - The Twitter feed of satirical US news website The Onion appeared to have been hacked Monday by a Syrian group aiming to inject its own sardonic spin on the deadly conflict.

Screenshots posted by eHacking News indicated a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army took control of the feed and posted comments and photos in line with similar intrusions at other news organizations.

"UN retracts report of Syrian chemical weapon use: 'Lab tests confirm it is Jihadi body odor,'" said one tweet, still available in a screenshot on news blogs after being deleted.

Another tweet said: "UN's Ban Ki Moon condemns Syria for being struck by israel: 'It was in the way of Jewish missiles.'"

The Onion did not respond to an AFP request for comment, and some comments on Twitter questioned whether the incident was a hoax by the organization itself.

"Either @TheOnion has been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, or this is its most convincing stunt ever," one tweet said.

Another user tweeted: "The Onion's Twitter feed has been hacked and yet it is still a more reliable news source than CNN."

The Syrian Electronic Army, which appears to be aligned with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, has previously claimed credit for hacking Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press and other news organizations.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS:
This is Syria's...
1 posted on 05/06/2013 5:56:41 PM PDT by null and void
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: null and void

Were they hacked?

Or were they just peeling back the layers?


3 posted on 05/06/2013 6:02:16 PM PDT by G Larry (Darkness Hates the Light)
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To: null and void
The Onion's Twitter feed has been hacked and yet it is still a more reliable news source than CNN.

Ain't that the truth...
4 posted on 05/06/2013 6:02:22 PM PDT by FatherFig1o155 (Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil. -- Thomas Paine)
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To: null and void

hacked yeah uhhuh whatever ive seen their logo


5 posted on 05/06/2013 6:04:17 PM PDT by bigheadfred ( barry your mouth is writing checks your ass cant cash)
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To: null and void
oy vey
6 posted on 05/06/2013 6:05:52 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: null and void

Looking at some of the twitter feeds, it could resemble a normal (?) Onion story, who’d know the difference?


7 posted on 05/06/2013 6:16:04 PM PDT by Traveler59 ( Truth is a journey, not a destination.)
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To: Traveler59
Looking at some of the twitter feeds, it could resemble a normal (?) Onion story, who’d know the difference?

That was my thought. It's pretty funny stuff. Syrian weapons plant got in the way of Israel's missles... hee hee.

I'd think Muslim hackers would be much more hateful than cynical. The "hack" seems to follow the Onion formula. It's great PR for them considering what they do.

8 posted on 05/06/2013 6:33:16 PM PDT by Tenacious 1 ("The British are Coming (to confiscate weapons)" - Paul Revere (We know how that ended))
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To: null and void
It's hard to beat:

Obama administration to send toy guns to Syrian rebels.

9 posted on 05/06/2013 7:37:34 PM PDT by Thud
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To: Thud

They’re definitely joking NOW. But are they jokoing about their own stunt, or a real event?

CHICAGO—Following today’s incident in which the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into The Onion’s Twitter account, sources at America’s Finest News Source confirmed that its Twitter password has been changed to OnionMan77 in order to prevent any future cyber-attacks. “We have taken the necessary measures to ensure this kind of thing never happens again,” said Onion IT specialist Nick Abersold, who noted that the new password’s length and use of numbers makes it “virtually impenetrable.” “There are no spaces, and the O and M are both capitalized—both tactics that I think will keep us safe for the foreseeable future. Also, there’s not one, but two 7s. So, once again, The Onion’s Twitter password is OnionMan77.” Abersold added that in order to ensure continued electronic security throughout The Onion’s operations, he had also reset the password for its Facebook page, employee email accounts, and mainframe server to OnionMan77.


10 posted on 05/06/2013 8:10:07 PM PDT by dangus (Poverty cannot be eradicated as long as the poor remain dependent on the state - Pope Francis)
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To: dangus

Gee.... now I’m going to have to change my password to OnionMan78 .


11 posted on 05/06/2013 10:54:51 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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