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Was The Onion’s Twitter account hacked?

Jam Kotenko
By

not sure if hackedIt seems like The Syrian Electronic Army is at it again. Back in March, their targets were set on taking control of BBC Weather’s Twitter account, and last month it was the Associated Press that had to deal with an SEA hack. Today, the hacker group went for an outlet you wouldn’t expect: The Onion.

The Onion is known for its satirical news content that’s often mistaken to be real (by those who don’t know any better), so being able to ascertain if a post from @TheOnion is a result of a hack attack would take a keen sense of observation.

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The first sign of hacking was posted around 1 p.m EDT:

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Israel denies forging new alliance with Al Qaeda: “We were friends all along, so it can’t be new” – IDF Spokesperson onion.com/LZuAvY — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

It was since followed by a string of somber tweets:

NASA: 9th planet discovered and identified as the Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifah onion.com/JQyVjn twitter.com/TheOnion/statu… — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

UN’s Ban Ki Moon condemns Syria for being struck by israel: “It was in the way of Jewish missiles” onion.com/104PKAs — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

We only wish this one was a joke, but this is what we have to live through in #Syria. twitter.com/TheOnion/statu… — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

With The Onion, anything is possible – they are certainly capable of faking their own hacking for satirical purposes. The tweets above didn’t seem to cut it in terms of funny, however. And in case anyone has any doubts about the attack, a Syrian Electronic Army Twitter account posted this screenshot, claiming responsibility:

And it looks like the group has no intentions of stopping:

The Onion’s Twitter account has been successfully suspended and restored, with the tweets above deleted from the feed. Their website and Facebook page remains unblemished and no acknowledgment of the hack attack has been made. This reaction to today’s hacking is pretty spot-on, though:

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Jam Kotenko
Jam Kotenko
Former Digital Trends Contributor
When she's not busy watching movies and TV shows or traveling to new places, Jam is probably on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or…
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