Techsyrian electronic armyuk techhacking

Syrian Electronic Army Hack Microsoft Twitter Accounts And Blog

The Syrian Electronic Army Have Struck Again
Huffington Post UK
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Hackers from the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) are believed to be responsible for attacks on two Microsoft Twitter accounts as well as their official blog.

Messages from the @MSFTnews account told people to stop using Hotmail and Outlook.

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Microsoft shut down the accounts for "maintenance" upon discovering the attacks.

A spokesperson told Mashable: "Microsoft is aware of targeted cyberattacks that temporarily affected the Xbox Support and Microsoft News Twitter accounts.

"The accounts were quickly reset and we can confirm that no customer information was compromised."

The SEA claimed they targeted Microsoft as the company "is monitoring emails accounts and selling the data for the American intelligence and other governments".

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The tech giant is the latest in a long line of companies that have been targeted by the SEA including the Washington Post, the BBC, AP, Skype, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, Reuters and the Huffington Post.

Also over the weekend, Anonymous attacked MIT to mark the first anniversary of the suicide of digital rights activist Aaron Swartz.

Many believe Swartz took his own life after being hounded by US authorities after he downloaded millions of academic articles from an MIT-run database.

5 Theories On Why Sinofsky Left Microsoft
He Really Wanted To Be CEO, But That Wasn't Happening Anytime Soon(01 of05)
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One source who spoke with Business Insider said Sinofsky left Microsoft because he had ambitions loftier than the company could accommodate. "Sinofsky felt that he deserved to be Microsoft's next CEO, and wanted to be designated as Steve Ballmer's successor after Windows 8 shipped,"Thomas Owen writes for Business Insider. Of course, Microsoft couldn't make such a promise so far in advance, since the company's current CEO, Steve Ballmer, had told colleagues he will stay until 2017 or 2018, another source told Business Insider earlier this year. (credit:AP)
People Thought He Was A Jerk(02 of05)
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That haughty demand -- "promise that I'll be CEO someday or I'll quit" -- hints at Sinofsky's prickly nature and how he allegedly sparred with others in the company to protect his grip on the Windows franchise, sources told reporters. "Sinofsky is known inside and outside the company as a guy who got things done and done his way," ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley writes. Foley believes this to be the strongest reason for Sinofsky's departure, and AllThingsD's Kara Swisher agrees. Windows needed a more collaborative leader willing to work with other execs within the company, especially as integration with Xbox and Microsoft websites like Bing became more crucial. "This more collegial cross-division effort was different from the closely held, command-and-control and even secretive method for which Sinofsky had been well-known throughout the company," Swisher says. "In fact, numerous sources said, it was anathema to him." (credit:AP)
Windows Sales Were Slipping(03 of05)
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Prickly or not, Sinofsky might just be leaving because Microsoft made a hard-nosed business decision. Maybe, the speculation goes, Windows 8 or Surface, which Sinofsky oversaw, weren't selling. CEO Steve Ballmer said soon before SInofsky's departure was announced that the Surface tablet was selling "modestly."While exact sales figures for either product haven't been made public, there's some indication that Sinofsky's performance was slipping. The New York Times' Nick Wingfield sums up the numbers thus:
In an internal review of his job performance last year, Mr. Sinofsky was faulted for failing to make sure that Microsoft lived up to a 2009 agreement with European regulators to offer users an easy way to install competitive Web browsers in Windows, according to a filing with securities regulators.Mr. Sinofsky was also faulted for a 3 percent decline in the revenue of Microsoft’s Windows business, long one of its most profitable divisions and the foundation for its strength in the personal computing market. As a result, Mr. Sinofsky received 60 percent of the bonus he was eligible to receive last year.
 (credit:AP)
Microsoft Might Hire Apple's Former iOS Boss(04 of05)
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What a coup that would be for Microsoft! Scott Forstall, former head of Apple's mobile operating system, left Cupertino in October after the launch of iOS 6. Many have drawn parallels to timing and handling of Sinofsky's exit, on the heels on the Windows 8 and Surface releases. Writing for the Seattle Times, Microsoft watcher Brier Dudley speculates that maybe, just maybe, Forstall could be moving on to Microsoft:
Could Microsoft be hiring Scott Forstall, the ousted head of mobile software development at Apple? Forstall is a local guy who interned at Microsoft and has family in this area. If he was hired by Microsoft, he'd take a top spot and carve out some of Sinofsky's turf.
 (credit:AP)
There Were Shinier Prizes To Be Had Elsewhere (05 of05)
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In a memo written to Windows staffers, Sinofsky gave his own reasons for leaving. Here's the thrust of what Sinofsky wrote, printed by Forbes on Monday night:
After more than 23 years working on a wide range of Microsoft products, I have decided to leave the company to seek new opportunities that build on these experiences. My passion for building products is as strong as ever and I look forward focusing my energy and creativity along similar lines. [Emphasis added.]
The real question is, however, does anyone buy into this reason? (credit:AP)
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