The vulnerability of the internet to hacking and the runaway dangers of instant social media were on display for a few brief seconds on Tuesday when the purported Twitter account of an international news agency flashed a message that said there had been an explosion in the White House and President Barack Obama had been injured.
The news agency AP’s hacked account tweeted, “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.”
Associated Press clarified within seconds that its Twitter account had been hacked to put out a false message but in the brief few seconds it made news, the tweet traveled round the world and convulsed the stock market.
Twitter immediately suspended the account @AP, but the news agency put out word through other accounts, including that of its correspondents, that it was the victim of an egregious hacking episode.
Even the White House responded immediately, saying the President was safe.
The alleged news of the explosions was immediately denied by other journalists who were inside the White House. E McMorris-Santoro, Buzzfeed’s White House reporter, tweeted, “from here in the WH basement, this acct (AP) seems hacked.”
Michael Skolnik, editor of GlobalGrind, said that the AP tweet was an obvious fake as it was made from a web browser while the news agency always uses a tool called SocialFlow to push news through its Twitter account.
Stock markets plunged just as the report came out, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 130 points, or 0.9 percent, and the S&P 500 dropping 12 points, or 0.8 percent.
AP_Mobile, another account operated by the news agency, was also hacked. A tweet made from the account said, “Syrian Electronic Army was here.”
It was not clear how hackers got the control of AP’s Twitter account. But it is possible that they managed it because of a mistake by an AP employee. Mike Baker, an AP reporter, revealed on his Twitter account that the employees of the company had received a phishing email.
