Sky TV’s Android apps happen
to be hacked and defaced by a cyber activist group referred to as Syrian
Electronic Army in what seems to be a show of support of Syrian President Bashar
Assad. Contributing to the confusion, the hackers will also be thought to have
gained charge of one of Sky’s Twitter feeds, to mischievously offer customers
their ‘advice’ on which to do.
Sky android apps, including Sky Go, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Football, Sky + and Sky Wi-Fi, were apparently hacked into over the past weekend before being pulled from the Google Play store shortly afterwards. By the time of writing, the only real apps to be unaffected are Sky News Weather, Sky News Arabia and Sky News Arabia for Tablets. Each one of the apps that were hacked into were quickly defaced, using the Syrian Electronic Army replacing Sky’s logo with this of its own. In addition, the content “Syrian Electronic Army Was Here” was scrawled onto each app.
Much more intriguing was the apparent disinformation that appeared shortly afterwards. Just hours following the breach became public knowledge, heaven Help Team Twitter account tweeted that users should deinstall the apps and watch for further instructions. All well and good, aside from the fact that Sky normally uses the Lithium Social web to create this kind of announcement. Moreover, the tweet itself contained several basic grammar mistakes, suggesting that the non-native speaker had written it.
A spokesperson for Sky later confirmed to CNet the Twitter feed had been hijacked, adding the advice to deinstall the apps wasn't Sky’s official guidance. He later added that apps that were installed prior to the hack were safe, which users didn’t need to uninstall them.
The Syrian Electronic Army continues to be extremely active in the last few months, hacking numerous media organizations it accuses of bias against President Assad’s regime in Syria. A number of its highest profile hacks first viewed it deface the Financial Time’s website, while Twitter accounts of the Guardian newspaper and the Associated Press were also hijacked in recent weeks. This weekend’s Sky apps hack seems to be the first time a broadcaster has been targeted however, and it’s even the first time that Android apps happen to be compromised, rather than company websites or social networking accounts.
Sky android apps, including Sky Go, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Football, Sky + and Sky Wi-Fi, were apparently hacked into over the past weekend before being pulled from the Google Play store shortly afterwards. By the time of writing, the only real apps to be unaffected are Sky News Weather, Sky News Arabia and Sky News Arabia for Tablets. Each one of the apps that were hacked into were quickly defaced, using the Syrian Electronic Army replacing Sky’s logo with this of its own. In addition, the content “Syrian Electronic Army Was Here” was scrawled onto each app.
Much more intriguing was the apparent disinformation that appeared shortly afterwards. Just hours following the breach became public knowledge, heaven Help Team Twitter account tweeted that users should deinstall the apps and watch for further instructions. All well and good, aside from the fact that Sky normally uses the Lithium Social web to create this kind of announcement. Moreover, the tweet itself contained several basic grammar mistakes, suggesting that the non-native speaker had written it.
A spokesperson for Sky later confirmed to CNet the Twitter feed had been hijacked, adding the advice to deinstall the apps wasn't Sky’s official guidance. He later added that apps that were installed prior to the hack were safe, which users didn’t need to uninstall them.
The Syrian Electronic Army continues to be extremely active in the last few months, hacking numerous media organizations it accuses of bias against President Assad’s regime in Syria. A number of its highest profile hacks first viewed it deface the Financial Time’s website, while Twitter accounts of the Guardian newspaper and the Associated Press were also hijacked in recent weeks. This weekend’s Sky apps hack seems to be the first time a broadcaster has been targeted however, and it’s even the first time that Android apps happen to be compromised, rather than company websites or social networking accounts.
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