Qatar state news agency hacked

Qatar announced Wednesday that its state news agency, Qatar News Agency (QNA), was hacked and articles on sensitive issues were published on the site before it went down.

Among the articles allegedly published were pieces on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, relations with Iran, comments on Hamas and negative views on Qatar's relationship with US President Donald Trump. The articles were attributed to the country's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Qatari officials said all the published items on the website during the hack were false. In a tweet, the QNA said "the state of Qatar will investigate this matter" and hold all involved accountable.

The Arabic and English versions of the website were unavailable as of 2:10 UTC. The hack comes in the same month as the "WannaCry" ransomware attack that affected computers worldwide. There is no indication thus far that the "WannaCry" ransomware was involved with Wednesday's hack.

kbd/kl (AFP, Reuters)