White House Staffers’ Email Accounts Hit in Hacker Attack

The pro-Assad hackers who call themselves the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) have struck again – this time targeting the email accounts of White House staffers.

The staffers were Phished by a set of emails that purported to have originated from the BBC and CNN.

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The attack gave the hackers access to three separate accounts, which were then used to further Phish other White House staffers.

Any plans to cause damage failed, although on Tuesday the SEA released what were alleged to be old Twitter passwords for the @whitehouse account on Tuesday, warning them that they'd "gotten lucky this time."

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The SEA also targeted the Twitter account of news service Thompson Reuters, which was used to spread pro-Assad messages until it was suspended late Monday evening.

By Tuesday afternoon, the account had been restored to its proper status, CSOonline.com reports.

The aim of the attacks is chiefly to spread pro-Assad messages, supporting the Syrian leader whose government is locked in a civil war that has so far claimed 100,000 lives.

The SEA have been particularly active attacking the Twitter accounts of media companies in recent months.

The Associated Press fell victim, along with three accounts held by CBS News and 11 accounts maintained by Britain's Guardian newspaper.

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