Tweets posted on Monday claim Obama had been killed
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – The Twitter account of Fox News politics was hacked on Monday, broadcasting false reports of Barack Obama’s assassination. A hacker group with a loose connection to Anonymous, The Script Kiddies, has taken responsibility for the attack, claiming it is part of a larger antisec movement against government and corporations, according to a report by the Guardian.
Fox says the US Secret Service is now investigating the attack, and the news network has also requested Twitter’s involvement in a security investigation.
Fox News Politics account is verified with a green checkmark. According to Twitter’s website, “Twitter uses this to establish authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets.” The false tweets were apparently online for nine hours, according to a report by CNET.
“We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of FoxNews.com said in a statement.
According to a report by Think Magazine, who secured an interview with a representative of the Script Kiddies, the group targeted Fox News because the group “figured their security would be just as much of a joke as their reporting.”
“I would consider us to be close in relation [to Anonymous], two of the members of our group were members of Anonymous … I was a member of Anonymous. We hope to be working with them soon,” the representative said.
Twitter released a statement on Monday that said Twitter can’t be responsible for compromises that occur offsite.
“While Twitter does monitor accounts for brute-force login attempts and similar methods of attack, we’re unable to anticipate compromises that take place due to offsite behavior,” Twitter said in a statement.
This attack shows that although preventing hacks on a website is an integral part of an organization’s IT security, it is important to secure all aspects of an organization’s online presence public-facing outlets like Twitter and Facebook.
Fox was also a target for hackers in May when LulzSec leaked names, phone numbers, email and private data of contestants of its X-Factor game show.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson writes full-time for the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has been writing for the WHIR since September 2010. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
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