Cyber Incident Victim: Alshariq Principality
Date:
Jan 2014
Location:
Saudi Arabia
Summary
Alshariq Principality was among the Saudi Arabian government websites defaced by the Syrian Electronic Army, which posted messages condemning the Al Saud regime and accusing it of supporting terrorist groups. The attackers launched the operation under the banner #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism, took the affected sites offline, and indicated that further actions would follow. Separately, a Turkish hacking group compromised the Syrian Electronic Army’s hosting provider, forcing the group’s own site to remain offline until a new host could be secured.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 16, 2014, the Syrian Electronic Army breached and defaced sixteen Saudi Arabian government websites. The attackers stated that the operation was conducted under the banner #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism. On the defaced pages they posted a message condemning the Al Saud regime, accusing it of employing terrorist groups for its own purposes. The targeted sites included various administrative regions of Saudi Arabia, which are also referred to as principalities.
As a result of the defacement, the affected websites were taken offline by their administrators at the time of writing. The Syrian Electronic Army indicated that further attacks would follow in the upcoming period. Separately, a Turkish hacking group known as Turkguvenligi reportedly breached the Syrian Electronic Army’s own website through its hosting provider. The Syrian hackers said their site would remain offline until they could secure another hosting company willing to accept their content.
Despite the loss of their hosting, the Syrian Electronic Army asserted that their operations and hacks would continue normally. They promised to provide updates on their activities via their social media channels. No additional details about specific remedial measures taken by the Saudi authorities or the duration of the outage were provided in the source material.