Just two days before the 9/11 anniversary, hackers used the official NBC News Twitter account to post fake reports of new attacks at Ground Zero. Within minutes of the first tweet, well-known hacker group Script Kiddies claimed responsibility for the three messages, which reported a hijacked plane had hit the New York City site. One read:
“Breaking News! Ground Zero has just been attacked. Flight 5736 has crashed into the site, suspected hijacking. more as the story develops.”
Hacking is never cool, but, as you might imagine, these tweets were particularly heinous. NBC News’ director of social media Ryan Osborn was online at the time and saw the fake reports less than a minute after they were tweeted. Other NBC News employees were also quick to let the public know about the hack. For more info, check out small business writer Dave Thomas on Socialnomics.
Thoughts?
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