Qatar has accused hackers of being the cause of comments that lead to five Arab nations severing diplomatic ties with the country. This comes after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, and Egypt cut diplomatic relations with the gulf state over reports that Qatari Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani supports Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in Iran.
For the most part, the Sunni-majority Arab states consider both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood to be terrorist organisations. The governments withdrew diplomats in protest, although this isn’t the first time that this has happened. A similar problem happened in 2014 and the problem was resolved within nine months.
Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior issued a press release revealing the source of the comments that briefly appeared on the Qatar News Agency. In it, the ministry blame unidentified hackers on the security breach which lead to the statements being issued. The investigation turned up a compromised file that had supposedly been lying dormant in the system since April.
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Qatar is still trying to identify the source of the cyberattack, although a CNN source supposedly pointed a finger at the Russians. However, the accusation has not been verified and Moscow has denied all allegations. The Qatar government also officially thanked the US and UK for their role in the investigation, although it has not clarified on what assistance was provided.
[Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
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