In this article, The Atlantic reports on the Syrian Electronic Army, an open and organized pro-government computer attack group that is operating with at least tacit support from the regime, who uses DDoS attacks, phishing scams, and other tricks to fight opposition activists online.

It mentions research findings of the Information Warfare Monitor, a research collaboration between the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the SecDev Group, an operational think tank based in a Ottawa, Canada, which uncovered an attempt by Syrian hackers to coax pro-revolution Syrian Facebook users into giving up their login info with a phony URL and login page. The hackers do so through a malicious link described as a “fascinating video clip showing an attack on Syrian regime” and it is “distributed throughout Syrian Twitter communities from several automated accounts”.

The article notes that “the system resembles the Koobface botnet researched and documented by the Monitor in November 2010″. It concludes that “while the scam isn’t obviously affiliated with the Syrian Electronic Army, the phishing attack fits with the group’s past activities”.

For the full article, see here.