USA TODAY Published 12:05 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2013 | Updated 3:00 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2013
Black columns of smoke rise from heavy shelling in the Jobar neighborhood in East of Damascus, Syria, on Aug 25.
(Photo: Hassan Ammar AP)
The latest disruption to U.S. media outlets dealt out by the Syrian Electronic Army may be a precursor for warfare in the digital age.
One aspect of the frontal assault that ought not be overlooked is the timing: The SEA, which supports strongman President Bashar al-Assad, knocked down websites of the New York Times, Huffington Post and Twitter, a few hours after US officials indicated the US may launch missile strikes against the Syrian government.
And now a person claiming to speak for the group has stepped forward to tie those attacks directly to the rising likelihood of U.S. military action in response to al-Assad using chemical weapons against his own people.
A self-described operative of the SEA told ABC News in an e-mail exchange: "When we hacked media we do not destroy the site but only publish on it if possible, or publish an article [that] contains the truth of what is happening in Syria. . . . So if the USA launch attack on Syria we may use methods of causing harm, both for the U.S. economy or other."
So you have the world's largest superpower rattling a saber at a fractious third-world nation -- and supporters of the entrenched regime retaliating by tossing a noisy grenade, threatening to use heavier cyber ordinance, observes Tim Sample, vice president o ..
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