BEIRUT: The Amal Movement’s official television station was hacked Monday and defaced with criticism of party leader Speaker Nabih Berri’s support of the Syrian regime.The cyber attack is the first of its kind in the country and could represent a new phase in the battle of ideas over the Syrian uprising.

A hacker going by the name Dark Coder posted a full page anti-Syrian regime message on the National Broadcasting Network’s homepage featuring an image of President Bashar Assad as a zombie.

The attack, on behalf of the “free people of Hama,” also included a poster commemorating the Hama Massacre of 1982, as well as a condemnation of NBN.

Last week Hama residents and international activists commemorated the 30th anniversary of the massacre of an estimated 10,000 people that Assad’s father carried out during an uprising against his government.

“You hypocritical criminal, your support for the criminal regime makes you a partner in crime with it; that is why I’m telling that you are criminal and despicable with not a shred of humanity,” the text on the NBN website read in Arabic.

NBN chairman Qassem Souweid condemned the hacking of its website, calling it an attack on freedom of speech and expression.

Souweid also said that the network will continue to publish its message and stand by the “Syrian people” in the face of “the conspiracy that seeks to target the country’s unity and national role.”

Berri is considered one of Syria’s main allies in Lebanon along with Hezbollah, and has described the uprising against President Bashar Assad as different from those of Egypt and Libya. The speaker has voiced his support for an Arab League plan designed to end the 10-month-old crisis, but has rejected the idea of military intervention in the troubled country.

Lebanon is split geographically and politically over support of the Syrian regime. Assad remains popular in the government but many in the north and east of the country are sympathetic to the uprising.

There are reports of weapons and aid being smuggled to the opposition along the border, while in Beirut demonstrations for Assad remain strong.

If the hacking of the NBN website represents a new phase of the Syrian conflicts battle for influence in the nation, internet experts say Lebanon’s websites are entirely unprepared.

“All websites have this problem,” said website and software developer Mireille Raad. “I think the level of security found on [Lebanon’s] websites usually is pretty low.”

Raad said website owners should seek out security consultants to probe their site for weaknesses. But she said even with strong protection, websites can be taken down or defaced by capable hackers.

The past year has seen a massive increase in hacktivism, where groups of hackers attack government and business websites for political ends. Dozens of websites have been defaced and thousands of website passwords have been compromised.

“People know, especially the young, hacktivists are trying to attract attention by defacing a government or regime website,” Raad said.

The hacktivism could be a subtle step of escalation in a conflict that shows few signs of resolution.

The uprising against the Assad regime has drawn on for nearly a year now with daily reports of protester deaths and a small armed opposition army taking form, but no sign of a decisive military or political victory in sight.

Frustration and politicization has mounted as efforts from the Arab League to mediate the conflict have proved unsuccessful while the U.N. Security Council has been unable to take action on the conflict at all.

Both Russia and China vetoed over the weekend a Security Council resolution condemning Assad’s crackdown on protesters.

As of Monday night, the attack has been removed from NBN’s website but normal content had yet to be restored to the homepage