AP Twitter account hacked, 'explosions at White House' tweet crashes DOW
April 23, 2013
A hacker compromised the main Twitter account for the Associated Press on Tuesday, creating momentary chaos across the world by inaccurately posting that US President Barack Obama was injured by an explosion in the White House.
Just after 1 p.m. EST, a message sent by the account @AP read "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."
Journalists inside the White House at the time of the tweet quickly refuted the claim and reported that no blast had been felt at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The AP announced from a separate account moments later that the initial tweet was not true and that hackers wrote and published the incorrect claim.
"The @AP Twitter account has been suspended after it was hacked. The tweet about an attack on the White House was false," the news agency announced.
Immediately after the fake tweet went live, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 took drastic nosedives before quickly rebounding.
The Syrian Electronic Army is taking credit for the compromise, but have yet to provide evidence. Just days earlier, though, Twitter suspended that group's main account after they took responsibility for hacking @60Minute, @48Hours and @CBSDenver — three accounts all registered to CBS News.
The Associated Press' main Twitter account is followed by nearly 2 million social media users.
April 23, 2013
A hacker compromised the main Twitter account for the Associated Press on Tuesday, creating momentary chaos across the world by inaccurately posting that US President Barack Obama was injured by an explosion in the White House.
Just after 1 p.m. EST, a message sent by the account @AP read "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."
Journalists inside the White House at the time of the tweet quickly refuted the claim and reported that no blast had been felt at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The AP announced from a separate account moments later that the initial tweet was not true and that hackers wrote and published the incorrect claim.
"The @AP Twitter account has been suspended after it was hacked. The tweet about an attack on the White House was false," the news agency announced.
Immediately after the fake tweet went live, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 took drastic nosedives before quickly rebounding.
The Syrian Electronic Army is taking credit for the compromise, but have yet to provide evidence. Just days earlier, though, Twitter suspended that group's main account after they took responsibility for hacking @60Minute, @48Hours and @CBSDenver — three accounts all registered to CBS News.
The Associated Press' main Twitter account is followed by nearly 2 million social media users.
No comments:
Post a Comment