Turkish hackers hijack Twitter account of Trump ally ex-Sheriff David Clarke in latest cyberattack

The Turkish Cyber Army hacking group has struck again by hijacking the Twitter account of vocal Donald Trump supporter and ex-Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. In a post on Monday (22 January) afternoon, the suspected Turkish attackers going by the name "Ayyıldız Tim" claimed responsibility for the hack.

The group changed Clarke's Twitter handle from @SheriffClarke to @SheriffClarkeTC and replaced the banner image with an image of an eagle and their logo, and tweaked his bio to include their operation slogan.

"Your account is hacked by the Turkish cyber army AYYILDIZ TIM!" the group tweeted via the compromised account along with a picture of the group's logo besides a hooded man.

"Your DM correspondence has been captured and interesting information has been reached! Turks are everywhere!"

The account was restored about two hours after the tweet was posted and the offending tweets were deleted.

Clarke, who resigned from his post as sheriff in September 2016, is a prominent supporter of President Trump and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Since then, he has frequently appeared on Fox News and recently came under fire over his controversial and violent statements against the media.

Earlier this month, his Twitter account was briefly locked after he posted graphic tweets threatening to punch the "lying lib media" in the nose and "make them taste their own blood". He also posted a picture of a wrestler with Trump's face superimposed on it holding back another wrestler with the CNN logo on it. A third wrestler with a picture of Clarke's face was also seen kicking the CNN wrestler in the ring.

His account was later restored to normal after the posts were taken down.

Clarke is the latest in a slew of US conservative political figures and reporters targeted by the Turkish hacking group. Last week, the group hacked the accounts of former Fox News hosts Eric Bolling and Greta Van Susteren - both of whom are followed by Trump on Twitter.

Bolling's compromised account posted images of his direct messages, including one sent that appeared to be sent to Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr, along with his email address and mobile phone number.

Van Susteren's hacked account posted tweets in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and an image of a direct message that seemed to be sent to Trump. They also briefly lost their verified status after the group changed their Twitter handles.

Later in the week, Fox News's Brit Hume and contributor Sara Carter's accounts were also hacked by the outfit.

Other accounts targeted by the group in the past include India's top diplomat to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin, World Economic Forum president Borge Brende and editor-in-chief of German Magazine Der Spiegel Klaus Brinkbaumer.

Clarke is yet to respond to the attack on his own account.