Syrian hackers attack Obama’s Twitter and Facebook accounts

The Syrian Electronic Army has claimed credit for hacking into US President Barack Obama’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The hackers say they took control of an online tool used by an advocacy organisation for Obama to forward links posted from his social media accounts.

Organizing for Action, a group which evolved from the president’s re-election campaign, confirmed their link shortener was momentarily hacked.

The tool abbreviates web links so that they can be placed in less space within in a tweet, which is limited to 140 characters.

After the hack, the links posted on Obama’s Facebook and Twitter pages redirected users to a video of the Syrian conflict instead of an immigration story by the Washington Post.

The Syrian Electronic Army tweeted that it accessed many Obama campaign email accounts to assess his ‘terrorism capabilities’.

"They are quite high," the hackers said.

"It showed what appeared to be the Google email account of an Organizing for Action staffer."

Earlier this year, the electronic army claimed responsibility for attacking ten websites including Twitter, the New York Times and the Huffington Post.