Harvard University’s website was compromised Monday morning when visitors who logged on were greeted by a message that read “Syrian Electronic Army Were Here”. The message also contained a picture of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.
The BBC reports that the message also denounced American opposition to the Assad regime and made terror threats to the United States.
Harvard officials claimed that the work appeared to be that of a “sophisticated individual or group”. Those investigating the matter are looking to the Syrian Electronic Army, a notorious hacker group, NPR reports. The group has been functioning as a pro-Assad component of the Arab Spring since April and has targeted a number of government, celebrity and university websites.
Syria, whose government has aimed to silence protestors by way of violence, has been the epicenter of some of the Arab Spring’s bloodiest crackdowns. Pro-regime supporters and online activists are initiating battle on new front lines, cyberspace, in an effort to silence revolutionaries.
Harvard University took the site down for a number of hours to restore it.