Twitter accounts belonging to western media on the Guardian were hacked over the weekend by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). GuardianBooks, GuardianTravel and guardianfilm were hacked according to the reports - all three accounts have now been suspended. The attackers accused the Guardian of spreading lies and slander about Syria, including nine tweets, some containing anti-Israeli statements.

Phishing emails to the Guardian started the attacks inciting the staff to click on certain lings. This in turn allowed the attackers to compromise email and social media accounts. It was crude and quickly discovered. The report states that the phishing sites were hosted in Cyprus and pointed to a US web site infested with malware.

SEA was reported to have been founded in 2011 in the wake of the uprising against Assad and is now located in Dubai. It focuses mainly on media sources reporting on the civil war in Syria. Last week, the Associated Press, and FIFA and its president Sepp Blatter were targeted.

The Guardian reports that Assad more or less admitted that the Syrian government is behind the SEA. Billionaire cousin, Rami Makhlouf, runs the company in Dubai and typically pays $500 to $1000 for a successful attack.