Viber Database Hacked By The Syrian Electronic Army

Viber Database Hacked By The Syrian Electronic Army

The database of Viber was hacked recently by the Syrian Electronic Army. Users of the popular messaging application were greeted by a banner indicating that the service was supposedly spying and monitoring them.

The group also warned users of the service through Twitter that they should delete the application if they installed it on their devices. The group claimed responsibility for hacking the database of the service and defacing its website.

Following the breach, the support page of the service showed a banner indicating that it was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army. Currently, the banner was removed and a “403 Forbidden” message was displayed on the site.

Viber provides users the capability of calling and sending messages for free using Wi-Fi. It revealed that its user base already surpassed 200 million in 193 countries across the world.

The company also confirmed that its website was defaced although sensitive user information remained safe. An employee reportedly became an email phishing victim that provided access to the customer support panel and the support administration system of the service.

The company indicated that the data accessed by the hackers was basic. It included the registration date of the user, the country the user is based, the device used, UDID, and the push token that is used in communicating with users. Although the data accessed was not sensitive, the company is disappointed that its systems were accessed by hackers. Viber is working on ensuring that the attack will not be repeated.

The Syrian Electronic Army is a group supporting the presidency of Bashar Assad. It claimed responsibility for a number of hacking attacks on company and new site across the world. Last May, the group hacked the Twitter account of Onion, a parody news site. It was also able to access the accounts of CBS, BBC, the Guardian, NPR and Associated Press.

No other information was released by Viber in connection to the attack.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday July 24 2013, 5:03 AM EST. Ref: CNET. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0