The New York Times’ website is down from what appears to be a “malicious external attack,” according to an official Times statement posted to its Facebook page. The Atlantic Wire reports that the paper’s domain has reportedly been in and out of service since 3PM EST, when it first became unavailable. The attack seems to the work of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a group of hackers that claims to be promoting the Assad regime. The Times has been reporting on the recent Syrian chemical attacks, which may have attracted the SEA’s attention.

This article appeared on the front page of the Times web site shortly after the site came back up.

Gizmodo has some interesting images that give a sense of how this all evolved.