Reuters hacked: fake interview with Syrian rebel posted
updated 06:08 pm EDT, Fri August 3, 2012
No clues as to perpetrator, rebels blame Syrian president
The blogging portion of the Reuters News website was hacked late Thursday, and a blog entry featuring a false interview with Riad al-Asaad, the head of the Free Syrian Army, was posted on a reporter's blog. "Reuters did not carry out such an interview, and the posting has been deleted," the Reuters statement said.
The Free Syrian Army issued a statement denying any such interview had taken place, and blamed President Bashar al-Assad's government for the false posting. The report "was fabricated by the regime, as it seems the news agency was hacked", the group said in a statement to Reuters.
The blogging arm of the Reuters website was taken offline briefly for security patches and to determine the avenue of attack. Despite allegations by the Free Syrian Army, Reuters has no information on who is behind the hack.
