USA

3 US Media Outlets Hacked by Syrian Gov't Supporters

FILE - A general view of the exterior of The Washington Post Company headquarters in Washington, March 30, 2012.

The websites of three major U.S. news outlets have been hacked by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Washington Post newspaper, CNN and Time magazine Thursday said hackers were redirecting certain news links to the website of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that supports the Syrian president's regime. The media outlets say they have taken defensive measures and removed the offending module that caused their pages to be redirected.

The Syrian Electronic Army took credit for the attacks in a post on Twitter. Those who were hacked and the group that took credit say access to the sites was gained through hacking a recommendation service called Outbrain, which works closely with the news organizations.

Earlier this week, the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the New York Post.