Cyber Incident Victim: Huraymila Principality
Date:
Jan 2014
Location:
Saudi Arabia
Summary
The Syrian Electronic Army breached and defaced 16 Saudi Arabian government websites, specifically targeting administrative regions referred to as principalities, under the campaign #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism. Hackers condemned the Al Saud regime, accusing it of employing terrorist groups, and caused the compromised sites to be taken offline. Concurrently, the SEA faced retaliation from Turkish hackers Turkguvenligi, who disrupted their operations by compromising the SEA’s hosting provider, forcing the group to rely on social media to announce future attacks while seeking alternative hosting.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 16, 2014, hackers affiliated with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) breached and defaced 16 Saudi Arabian government websites. The compromised sites belonged to various administrative regions, including principalities such as Huraymila. Attackers replaced legitimate content with a political message condemning the Al Saud regime under the banner #ActAgainstSaudiArabiaTerrorism. The defacement accused Saudi Arabia of utilizing terrorist groups to conduct its "dirty work." All affected websites were rendered inaccessible following the incident, as administrators took them offline in response to the breach. The SEA claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack, framing it as retaliation against perceived Saudi state-sponsored terrorism. No specific technical details about the attack vectors or data exfiltration were disclosed in available reports.
The SEA announced intentions to continue cyber operations despite recent setbacks to their infrastructure. Concurrently, the group acknowledged their official website had been compromised by Turkish hacker collective Turkguvenligi through a hosting provider breach. This counterattack forced the SEA’s site offline until they could secure alternative hosting. The group maintained operational continuity by directing followers to monitor their social media channels for updates on future activities. At the time of reporting, restoration efforts for the Saudi government sites remained unconfirmed, with no further details about forensic investigations or long-term remediation measures. The incident disrupted access to regional government portals but yielded no verified claims of data theft or persistent network access.