The Onion is well known for its satirical news, so when it started posting pro-Syrian news on Twitter with broken links, nobody really knew what to think.
As the news progressed to deeper troubles within Syria, we could start to tell this was not The Onion and then the Syrian Electronic Army disclosed they were the ones behind the hack and latest Twitter and Facebook updates.
Gaining access back, The Onion decided this would be a good way to pump a few articles out about the Syrian Electronic Army and the problems with Twitter’s security.
Syrian Electronic Army trying out humor by hacking The Onion
This is not the first time the Syrian Electronic Army has attacked Twitter handles, it has previously gained access to the Associated Press and updated the account regarding a fake attack on President Barack Obama.
President Bashar al-Assad is in many people’s eyes a cruel and disgusting ruler of Syria, and the Syrian Electronic Army support and believes al-Assad will overcome rebel forces.
However, the vast majority of people in the United States and outside Syria see the ruling faction as a blight on the world and one that needs to be gone, the rebels within Syria are working to do get this job done.
While major political and social issues remain within the walls of Syria, the Syrian Electronic Army seem compelled to keep trying to take down the Twitter handles of some major news sources.
The Onion strikes back
The Onion took this hack on the chin and decided it was time to go on the offensive, stating the Syrian Electronic Army were just moments away from being slaughtered before they hacked the Twitter handle.
The Onion also took the time to make a meme, as many explained they did not know if The Onion had actually been hacked or if it was an internal joke to make it seem like The Onion was hacked.
The Onion also made a reference to “strong passwords” with the change to “OnionMan77” and asking “is this enough?” to keep the Twitter handle from being hacked again.
Twitter security updates
Twitter is starting to become a center for hackers, we are seeing more Twitter handles hacked by a simple process of finding passwords and social engineering.
This security issue may not be around for much longer, as Twitter is preparing two-step verification to help combat some easy brute force and password attempts.
For sophisticated hackers, this may not be a solution to the problem they are creating and they can easily bypass this step, but it will hold off most without advanced knowledge.
Last year we read about the Wired blogger Mat Honan, who was hacked and all accounts and data were lost in the process. This is a serious issue Twitter need to sort out, for organizations, the effects may be little more than a laughing matter but for a personal account, it can ruin a life on the web.
