Skype has admitted that it was hit by a cyber attack from the Syrian Electronic Army but claimed that the results had been over stated by the hackers. The Internet calling service acknowledged y it had been hit with a "cyber attack" but said no user information was compromised.

This is not what the SEA told the world yesterday. Although its main message seemed to be to post on Skype's official Twitter feed on Wednesday read: "Don't use Microsoft emails (hotmail, outlook), They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments. More details soon. #SEA"

Similar messages were posted on Skype's official Facebook pages and on a blog on its website before being taken down later in the afternoon. Skype is owned by Microsoft.

The Syrian Electronic Army, an amorphous hacking collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, later claimed the attack and hinted that it knew everything about Skype users. A spokeswoman for Skype said in a statement released that it became aware of a targeted cyber attack that led to access to Skype's social media properties, but these credentials were quickly reset. No user information was compromised.