AGL 40.02 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.05%)
AIRLINK 127.35 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.24%)
BOP 6.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.9%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.44%)
DCL 8.70 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.75%)
DFML 41.75 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.75%)
DGKC 87.65 Increased By ▲ 0.80 (0.92%)
FCCL 32.61 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (1.02%)
FFBL 64.99 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.29%)
FFL 10.25 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUBC 109.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.03%)
HUMNL 14.70 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.14%)
KEL 5.08 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.59%)
KOSM 7.58 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.61%)
MLCF 41.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.19%)
NBP 59.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.71 (-1.18%)
OGDC 193.70 Increased By ▲ 3.60 (1.89%)
PAEL 28.30 Increased By ▲ 0.47 (1.69%)
PIBTL 7.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.15%)
PPL 151.75 Increased By ▲ 1.69 (1.13%)
PRL 26.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.62 (-2.31%)
PTC 16.10 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.19%)
SEARL 83.50 Decreased By ▼ -2.50 (-2.91%)
TELE 7.77 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.78%)
TOMCL 35.49 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.23%)
TPLP 8.14 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.25%)
TREET 16.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-1.52%)
TRG 53.40 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.21%)
UNITY 26.37 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.8%)
WTL 1.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.79%)
BR100 9,953 Increased By 69.4 (0.7%)
BR30 30,908 Increased By 307.7 (1.01%)
KSE100 93,812 Increased By 456.3 (0.49%)
KSE30 29,062 Increased By 130.9 (0.45%)

Qatar said Wednesday it had begun an inquiry into an unprecedented security breach by hackers who posted fake news stories attributed to its ruler on highly sensitive regional political issues. The cyber attack, which hit Qatar's official news agency website and Twitter account, caused ripples inside the Gulf state and across the Middle East.
Qatar's Communications Office said the stories were completely untrue, and had "no basis whatsoever". Among the topics supposedly addressed by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani were the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, strategic relations with Iran, and comments about Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
There were also alleged "tensions" between Qatar and the administration of US President Donald Trump. In addition, the hacked Twitter account contained a false story in Arabic apparently from the country's foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, about Qatar withdrawing its ambassadors from several nearby countries.
One aim of the attack appears to be to harm Doha's fragile relations with neighbouring Gulf states, which have been exposed in recent years over issues such as Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Amid the confusion, Qatar's Communications Office said the stories were completely baseless. "The Qatar News Agency website has been hacked by an unknown entity," reported the Communications Office in a statement.
"A false statement attributed to His Highness has been published." Officials told AFP that the inquiry had already begun and that the communications office was expected to make a further statement later on Wednesday. The communications office said that the "State of Qatar will hold all those" who committed the breach accountable. The Qatar News Agency is expected to hold a press conference later today.
The "false statement" on QNA, which appeared in the early hours of the morning, was picked up and reported by broadcasters and newspapers across the region, including in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, Doha-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera was unavailable for some time in the UAE, though it was not clear if it was blocked on purpose. The Al-Jazeera Arabic website was also inaccessible in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017

Comments

Comments are closed.