Aussie link in Syrian Electronic Army internet attack A HACKING attack allegedly by the Syrian Electronic Army that closed down access to The New York Times's official website was perpetrated through Australian internet domain name registry Melbourne IT. Melbourne IT chief executive Theo Hnarakis yesterday detailed how hackers used a technique called "spear phishing" to gain the login and password details of two staff of a Melbourne IT reseller in the US, who acted as account managers to The New York Times.