Note: This post has been updated to reflect Skype regaining control of its blog and Twitter account. But a string of stories generated from documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have spotlighted many tech services' cooperation or involvement in government surveillance efforts. The service has been criticized by some privacy groups for allowing governments ways to access users' private video calls or messages. It's not clear why the SEA singled out Skype. Last summer, the group crippled the website of the New York Times, and it also a took over the Associated Press's Twitter account to post a false message about an attack on the White House. military organizations rather than technology companies.

The SEA in the past year has compromised websites or social-media accounts of parties it believes are sympathetic to Syrian rebel groups, though its targets typically are news outlets and U.S. Company representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Later on Wednesday, a Twitter account used by the SEA also posted an image of what appeared to be Microsoft employee account data, showing Steve Ballmer's company email address, phone number and his office number at Microsoft headquarters.

The earlier Twitter posts were scrubbed from Skype's account. The company said no user information was compromised. 'We recently became aware of a targeted cyber attack that led to access to Skype's social media properties, but these credentials were quickly reset,' it said. Though Microsoft had no immediate comment, Skype followed up with a statement later.

Skype account hacker