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Inquiry and Analysis|1009| August 19, 2013 Syrian Electronic Army Uses Social Media – Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, Smartphone Apps – To Communicate, Spread News Of Its Hacks And Its Mission, And Recruit Volunteers By: Steven Stalinsky and R.Sosnow* MEMRI | MEMRI TV | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR | SOUTH ASIA STUDIES PROJECT

Introduction On August 15, 2013, the Syrian Electronic Army hacked the websites of CNN, Time, and theWashington Post, announcing on its Twitter account that it had done so "in one strike." Image source: Washington Post, August 15, 2013. This is not the first time that the SEA has made headlines. On April 23, 2013, the SEA hacked the official Twitter account of the AP, which has nearly 2 million followers, tweeting "Breaking: Two explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured." The Dow Jones immediately dropped some 150 points, and $136 billion in equity market value was erased before it became known that the tweet was fake. The April 23, 2013 fake AP tweet. The day after the hack, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in response to questions about the incident: "In this case, the misinformation was corrected very quickly, which was a good thing. But obviously this incident is an example of why the public and private sector must continue to work together to promote norms of behavior in cyberspace and to protect ourselves against malicious actions." In 2013, the SEA has hacked numerous high-profile social media accounts and websites associated with major news and human rights organizations: on January 9, the Saudi Defense Ministry and other Saudi government websites; on March 17, Human Rights Watch; on March 21, the BBC; on April 16, NPR; on April 21, CBS; on April 23, AP, as mentioned above; on April 29, The Guardian; on May 17,Financial Times; on May 26, Sky's Android Apps and Twitter account; and in July, @Thomsonreuters, Truecaller, Tango, and Viber, and the Twitter accounts of several White House staffers. What Is The SEA? The Syrian Electronic Army's official website, SEA.sy, states in English that it was created in 2011 "when the Arab media and Western [media] started bias in favor of terrorist groups that have killed civilians [and] the Syrian Arab Army, and [destroyed] private and public property." An SEA member told the website vice.com: "We're all Syrian youths who each have our specialized computer skills, such as hacking and graphic design. Our mission is to defend our proud and beloved country Syria against a bloody media war that has been waged against her. The controlled media of certain countries continues to publish lies and fabricated news about Syria." The Syrian Computer Society, which was headed by Bashar Al-Assad before he became president in 2000, and which is Syria's domain registration authority and regulates the Internet within Syria, and is also believed to be connected to Syria's state security apparatus, registered .sy domain names for the Syrian Electronic Army's servers, giving the hacker group a national-level domain name (sea.sy) rather than a .com or other non-government address, signifying its status as at least a state-supervised operation. Defectors from inside the SEA say that the group moved from Damascus to Dubai, although some pro-regime volunteers remain inside Syria. It is hosted in Syria. The website also features two "martyrs," "Martyr Mohammed Qabbani and "Martyr Lorans Barakat," with a photo of each.   According to the group's official website, its hackers are organized into battalions. Three battalions are shown on the website are "Th3 Pr0,""The Shadow," and "Vict0r." Th3 Pr0 The first of these, Th3 Pr0, appears to be not a battalion but an individual who, according to their website, is 19 years old and a leader of the SEA's "Special Operations Division." and has claimed that they "used to be a hacker before I joined the SEA." They have an extensive online presence, with accounts on Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Flickr, Foursquare, and Instagram. The Shadow According to their LinkedIn account, The Shadow, who is also presented as a "battalion" on the SEA website, appears to be an individual, who claims to be 24, and, like Th3 Pr0, a leader of the SEA's Special Operations Division. They state that they are in "Civil Engineering," and under "Education" they write "Hafez Al-Assad" and "Hafez Assad school learning what not learning foreign." They state that they have been with the SEA since April 2011. Vict0r On its Twitter page (@ViCt0r_SEA), Vict0r, which, like Th3 Pr0 and The Shadow, also appears to be an individual and not a "battalion," states that they are "Member of Special Operations Department (SOD) in Syrian Electronic Army Team." The last tweet from this account was on June 19. "Vict0r Battalion" maintains a Facebook page, where it posts about SEA hacks. According to the Facebook page, Vict0r Battalion also has a website, but this site appears to be no longer in operation. The SEA-Syrian Regime Connection Though there is no explicit known connection between the SEA and the Syrian regime, the regime is believed to be behind the SEA's activities and has recognized its legitimacy. In a June 2011 speech at Damascus University, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad compared online warriors to his military: "The army consists of the brothers of every Syrian citizen... Young people have an important role to play at this stage, because they have proven themselves to be an active power."  He added, "There is the electronic army, which has been a real army in virtual reality." For their part, SEA leaders also have been outspoken in their approval of Assad. In an interview, in response to the question, "If Bashar Al-Assad were to lose the conflict in Syria, would the SEA continue?" Th3 Pr0 replied: "[If] the President lose then Syrian and the Syrian people will lose, but Syria will not lose... the right never lose." The SEA On Social Media The SEA is active on U.S. social media accounts, including Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and smartphone apps. The group also appeals on its website for volunteers to promote and aid its cause using social media. The SEA Calls For Volunteers To Promote It On Social Media The SEA appeal for volunteers appears on both its Arabic and English-language websites. The English version reads: "Contribute with us in supporting the cause of the Syrian Arab people by educating yourselves to counter the campaigns led by the Arab and Western media on our Republic, through broadcasting fabricated news about what is really going on in Syria. You can join our pages on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter or share videos from our YouTube page by clicking on the links below." "Volunteering in the SEA," accessed August 16, 2013.  The SEA On Twitter They Syrian Electronic Army's current Twitter account, @Official_sea16, was created August 1, 2013, and as of today has posted 54 tweets and has 538 followers. The previous SEA account, which was shut down July 31, 2013, had 380 tweets and 17 followers. It writes in both English and Arabic. The first post on the new account refers to the shutdown of the previous account, stating: "So @Twitter did the @whitehouse gave you an order to suspend the #SEA account again? anyway.. the war is started :)." Click here to read the full report.