Twitter hit by 'Iranian Cyber Army' attack
The Twitter hack appears to be in retaliation to the use of the site by protesters earlier this year.


Twitter has been hacked by a group proclaiming to be the "Iranian Cyber Army".
Visitors to the Twitter website were met with a black screen, with the message: "This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army". The screen also showed an Iranian flag and, curiously, a Gmail address for the hackers.
The hackers' message continued further down the page, stating: "U.S.A. Think They Controlling And Managing Internet By Their Access, But They Don't, We Control And Manage Internet By Our Power, So Do Not Try To Stimulation Iranian Peoples To... NOW WHICH COUNTRY IN EMBARGO LIST? IRAN? USA? WE PUSH THEM IN EMBARGO LIST;) Take care."
Several websites have screengrabs of the attack, including Digital Beat.
As of 7:40am, the site had returned to normal. A message on the Twitter blog states: "Twitter's DNS records were temporarily compromised tonight but have now been fixed. As some noticed, Twitter.com was redirected for a while but API and platform applications were working. We will update with more information and details once we've investigated more fully."
Twitter played an influential role in the disputed Iranian elections earlier this year, with many of the country's residents using the service to report vote rigging and other forms of alleged intimidation.
Twitter also became a focal point for worldwide protest, with users changing their stated location to Iran and turning their avatar green in solidarity with the Iranian people.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Barry Collins is an experienced IT journalist who specialises in Windows, Mac, broadband and more. He's a former editor of PC Pro magazine, and has contributed to many national newspapers, magazines and websites in a career that has spanned over 20 years. You may have seen Barry as a tech pundit on television and radio, including BBC Newsnight, the Chris Evans Show and ITN News at Ten.
-
The Era of Hybrid Cloud Storage
Whitepaper
By ITPro
-
Women show more team spirit when it comes to cybersecurity, yet they're still missing out on opportunities
News While they're more likely to believe that responsibility should be shared, women are less likely to get the necessary training
By Emma Woollacott
-
Twitter API keys found leaked in over 3,200 apps, raising concerns for linked accounts
News Business and verified Twitter accounts linked to affected apps are at risk of takeover, use in malicious campaigns
By Rory Bathgate
-
The Twitter hack, and why we need a better class of criminal
Opinion The bitcoin scammers’ biggest crime isn’t fraud - it’s lack of imagination
By Adam Shepherd
-
Media and telco consortium calls for social media regulation
News Companies including Channel 4, BT and the BBC urge the government to place firms like Facebook under greater oversight
By Adam Shepherd
-
Twitter alerts users after squashing password revealing internal bug
News The company is advising users to reset their passwords 'in the interests of caution'
By Adam Shepherd
-
Twitter freezes accounts in the wake of password leak
News Company requests password resets as security measure
By Adam Shepherd
-
Twitter blocks US intelligence agencies from Dataminr alerts
News Social media service has alerted US government of terror attacks before news media
By Aaron Lee
-
Twitter will warn you of state-sponsored attacks
News Social network follows in the footsteps of Facebook by alerting users targeted by governments
By Jane McCallion
-
Virginia shooting - don't open that link!
Opinion Scammers and cyber criminals love to capitalise on tragedy, and we can't help but click
By Jane McCallion