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Harvard Web site hacked with pro-Syria message

"Sophisticated" attack briefly defaces site with message accusing the U.S. of supporting a policy of killing in Syria.

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Harvard University's home page was hacked earlier today in what was described as a "sophisticated" attack that briefly defaced the site with a message accusing the U.S. of supporting the uprising against Syria's president.

Accompanying an image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a message that said "SyRiAn ELeCTronic ArMy WeRe HeRE," according to a screenshot captured by the BBC. The defacement included an anti-U.S. diatribe that accused the U.S. of supporting a "policy of killing" in Syria, the BCC reported:

Do you support the war on Syria? If you are you, as well as the following Syria's population of 23 million people. This means 23 million mobile bomb. Imagine what we could do.

A Harvard spokesperson said the university is examining the hack in an effort to improve network security.

"The university's homepage was compromised by an outside party this morning. We took down the site for several hours in order to restore it," a Harvard spokesman told the BBC. "The attack appears to have been the work of a sophisticated individual or group."