NYT’s website attacked

The website of The New York Times was disrupted for the second time this month on Tuesday, and people also had trouble accessing Twitter. A hacker group calling itself the “Syrian Electronic Army” claimed responsibility.

Within minutes of Tuesday’s attack, NYT set up alternative websites, posting stories about chemical attacks in Syria. The service was restored early on Wednesday.

The cyberattacks came at a time when the Obama administration is trying to bolster its case for possible military action against Syria.

“Media is going down ...” warned the Syrian Electronic Army in a Twitter message before the websites stopped working, adding that it also had taken over Twitter and the

Huffington Post U.K .

Both Twitter and the Times said they were resolving the attack, which actually hit an Australian company that registered their domain names, Melbourne IT.

A Syrian Electronic Army activist confirmed to The Associated Press that the group hijacked the Times’ and Twitter’s domains by targeting Melbourne IT.