Qatar's Al Jazeera target of hacking attempts as Qatar crisis deepens

Qatar's flagship broadcaster Al Jazeera said it came under a "systematic and continual hacking attempts" on all its media platforms on Thursday, noting that its entities "have not been compromised."

The "continual" attempts of cyberattack came at a time Doha is in the eye of a diplomatic storm fueled by allegations that the small but oil-rich peninsula is supporting extremism.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain have announced their decision to sever diplomatic ties and cut sea, land and air traffic with Qatar, accusing it of destabilizing the region and sparking one of the worst diplomatic crises in the Gulf for decades.

Since, all four nations have withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar and expelled Qatari diplomatic missions. Qatari expats were also given a period of two weeks to leave the countries.

The spat between Doha and its neighboring countries was triggered by inflammatory remarks attributed to the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who expressed support for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and showed a softening stance towards Iran. Doha has categorically denied the remarks, arguing that the official Qatar News Agency was hacked, which led to comments falsely quoting the Emir being published.

Al Jazeera said an FBI team had been in Doha for the past week after the Qatari government asked the US for help following the cyber-attack on its state news agency.

(CGTN)