Links Used in Obama Twitter Account Hacked

A nonprofit political advocacy group which emanated from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign says hackers altered the links contained in tweets sent under his name.

An official with Organizing for Action said that someone hacked the link shortener used by the account. The official said the Twitter account itself had not been compromised. Though the account is listed under Obama's name, the president himself rarely sends messages.

A group called the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for the action. The group aligns itself with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has taken credit for hacking into social media sites in the past. The group said, quote, "Obama doesn't have any ethical issues with spying on the world, so we took it upon ourselves to return the favor."