AP Twitter Hacked Claims Attack on White House

The Twitter account of Associated Press was hacked Tuesday and posted a “breaking news” about an attack on the White House and that President Barack Obama was “injured.” The news organization said that the attack on Twitter came after a “phishing attempt on AP’s corporate network.”

According to AP reporter Mike Baker, AP staff received “an impressively disguised phishing email” less than an hour before their main Twitter account was hacked. The fake tweet was deleted within 10 minutes after it was discovered.

Other AP Twitter accounts, such as @AP_Mobile, were also attacked with tweets referencing to Syria. Those accounts belonging to AP like @AP_Politics and @AP_Courtside were spared, but tweeting has been suspended until the news organization can vouch for the security of its systems.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney informed reporters right after the false Twitter post that “the president is fine” and no explosions happened in the vicinity. However, Wall Street reacted quickly to the fake report as major stock market averages briefly plunged, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling by as much as 143 points before recovering in positive territory.

A group of Syria-based hackers called the Syrian Electronic Army took credit for the attacks. Their website, syrianelectronicarmy.com, details the cyber attacks.

Source: TechCrunch and The Guardian
Technology News – GuideTo.Com

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