Doha-based media giant Al Jazeera has revealed it is the victim of “systematic and continual” hacking attempts, adding that its platforms have not been compromised.
These hacking attempts, Al Jazeera said, were gaining intensity and were also taking various forms in the way they were attacking its platforms.
Al Jazeera stated:
The websites and digital platforms of Al Jazeera Media Network are undergoing systematic and continual hacking attempts.
These hacking attempts come in the aftermath of false statements attributed to Qatar’s ruler through the state news service, which was hacked. A number of neighboring countries cut ties with Qatar after Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s faux comments were broadcast to spark a rift with neighboring Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
“The fake report said Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in a speech at a military graduation ceremony, was critical of renewed tensions with Iran, expressed the need for contextualising Hezbollah and Hamas as resistance movements, and suggested US President Donald Trump might not last long in power,” Al Jazeera claimed.
For its part, the Qatari government invited an FBI team to Doha to conduct a forensic analysis of the security breach of Qatar’s news agency.
According to a Fortune source, Al Jazeera was also at the receiving end of a DDoS attack, forcing the company to shut down its website temporarily. Al Jazeera employees took to social media to confirm difficulties in accessing their email servers and the internet.
Qatar has seen its borders from neighboring states cut off and CCN cites experts in the region who claim that Arab states could demand Qatar to shut down Al Jazeera if ties are to be reestablished. The state-backed network has previously been critical of Arab governments including Saudi Arabia’s ruling family and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The forensic investigation will be revealed when complete, Qatar’s interior ministry added.
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