Hacked Fox News Twitter Account Posted False Reports of Obama’s Assassination
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on July 5, 2011
No matter how you feel about the president of the United States, or anyone for that matter, jokes or false reports about assassinations are not funny. They’re sick.
Maggie’s Notebook reported on this yesterday — Fox Twitter Feed Hacked: “Obama Assassinated…” — and she included this captured image of one of the tweets sent on the Fourth of July by hackers:
Cyber hoaxes are not new — the false reporting of the deaths of celebrities, such as singer Lady Gaga and actor Morgan Freeman, are usually attempts by unscrupulous people to drive huge amounts of Internet traffic to a site. That doesn’t appear to be the case with this hoax, and with other celebrity death rumors, hacking was not involved.
It goes to prove that you can’t always trust what you read on Twitter.
An investigation into the hacking and false reporting of Pres. Obama being killed is underway… reported by CBC.ca, Secret Service to probe Fox News cyberattack:
The U.S. Secret Service will investigate the hijacking of a Fox News Twitter account by hackers who posted false reports that U.S. President Barack Obama was assassinated.
Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie confirmed the investigation to CBC News on Monday.
Six tweets from FoxNewsPolitics, which has more than 34,100 followers, alleged the president was shot and killed at a restaurant while campaigning in Iowa. They were posted starting at about 2 a.m. ET on Monday, Independence Day.
Fox News announced on its website later in the morning that it had alerted the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, about the incident.
On its website Monday morning, FoxNews.com said, “Hackers sent out several malicious and false tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated.
“Those reports are incorrect, of course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his family.”
Fox News, which is based in New York City, later added it had alerted the Secret Service. Jeff Misenti, vice-president and general manager of Fox News Digital, was quoted as saying the website was requesting a detailed investigation by Twitter to figure out how the attack occurred and how to “prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts.”
From Washington Post, Hackers put big — and false — news on Fox Twitter account:
The tweets, six in total, included gory (and entirely bogus) details: two shots at an Iowa restaurant, hitting the president in the pelvis and neck, etc.
Within hours, news of the fake assassination spurred a wave of re-tweets, jokes and comments mocking Fox online, fueled in part by idle Blackberrys during the holiday and, given the cruel nature of some tweets, apparently a measure of glee at the embarrassment of a news organization sometimes perceived as opposing Obama.
From Los Angeles Time, Secret Service investigates hacking of Fox News Twitter account:
The Secret Service said Monday it would investigate the hacking of Fox’s political Twitter account over updates falsely claiming that President Obama had been assassinated.
Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said the law enforcement agency, whose job it is to protect the president, would look into the false postings and “conduct the appropriate follow-up.”
Hackers broke into the FoxNewsPolitics account early Monday, leaving a series of six tweets reporting that Obama had been shot to death in Iowa and the shooter was unknown.
In a statement on its website, Fox News called the tweets “malicious” and “false.”
“We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” said Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital.
The online magazine Think at New York’s Stony Brook University reported that initial posts about midnight indicated the Fox News Twitter account had been hacked by a group called the Script Kiddies. Harmless posts announcing the group’s hacking of the Fox News account were followed by the false posts about Obama, according to Think.
A Think staffer, Adam Peck, wrote on the magazine’s website that he had exchanged electronic messages with a person claiming to be with Script Kiddies shortly after the initial hacking. Later, however, the unidentified person would not confirm that the group was behind the Obama posts, Peck wrote.
From The Guardian, Fox News’s hacked Twitter feed declares Obama dead:
The rogue tweets appeared to begin after the account sent a message saying Fox had just “regained full access to our Twitter account”.
The following tweets all related to the supposed death of Obama, with some posts being very specific about the president’s injuries.
“@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead,” came the first tweet. The string of messages continued:
“@BarackObama has just passed. Nearly 45 minutes ago, he was shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck; shooter unknown. Bled out”, and then: “@BarackObama shot twice at a Ross’ restaurant in Iowa while campaigning. RIP Obama, best regards to the Obama family.”
Whatever the hoaxer’s identity, they do not appear to have been entirely web-savvy. The first three posts revealing the president’s death were directed to the @BarackObama Twitter feed, meaning only those following both accounts would have seen the messages.
The unknown tweeter appeared to realise the error of their ways, switching tack to post three more tweets that would have been seen by all followers:
“#ObamaDead, it’s a sad 4th of July. RT to support the late president’s family, and RIP. The shooter will be found;
“BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP;
“We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there’s light at the end of tunnel.”
From KBOI News, Obama Assassination Rumors Circulate on Fox News Politics Twitter:
(WASHINGTON) — Hackers briefly gained control of the Fox News Politics Twitter Monday morning to wrongly proclaim that President Obama had been assassinated in Iowa.
The first few bogus tweets were posted with “@BarackObama” and only showed up in timelines of those who follow Fox News and the presidential account.
One of the tweets read: “We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
Earlier, another post read, “@BarackObama has just passed. Nearly 45 minutes ago, he was shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck; shooter unknown. Bled out.”
The identity of the hacker or group that hijacked the Fox News Politics Twitter is unknown, although several published reports stated that an anonymous hacking group known as Script Kiddies claimed responsibility for the tweets.
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