The US Secret Service said Monday it was investigating the apparent hacking of an official Twitter account operated by Fox News that posted a series of tweets claiming President Barack Obama had been assassinated.
The Twitter feed for the television network’s political news — @FoxNewspolitics — sent out a series of “malicious and false tweets,” starting around 2:00 am, Fox News confirmed in a statement. The posts have since been taken down.
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According to the BBC, a group calling themselves “The Script Kiddies” claimed responsibility for the attack. This evidence is backed up by the fact that tweets from a user called The Script Kiddie began appearing in amongst the Obama feed. The account was shut down by Twitter administrators shortly thereafter.
“@BarackObama has just passed. The president is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead,” read the first of the Obama-related tweets.
Just before false posts began, the hackers apparently announced their control to the account, with the post: “Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th.”
The updates, which were “retweeted” by thousands on the micro-blogging site and prompted headlines around the world, said Obama had been “shot twice at a Ross’ restaurant in Iowa” during a campaign spot.
The US leader was in fact in Washington, not Iowa, and was planning to celebrate the July 4 holiday with his family and military families later Monday.
“President @BarackObama assassinated, two gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP,” continued the tweets.
Fox News said the hacking was being investigated, and that it “regrets any distress the false tweets may have created.”
Asked about the apparent hacking, Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service — the federal law enforcement agency tasked with ensuring the president’s safety — was looking
The fake Fox tweet is the latest in a series of hacks against news agencies. Other incidents this year include the now defunct LulzSec posting news on the PBS site that TuPac Shakur was alive, and living in New Zealand this May.
This is also not the first time this year that Fox have inadvertently reported the death of the American president. While reporting the operation in which Osama Bin Laden was killed, a Fox News anchor (see video below), uttered the words “President Obama is in fact dead”. This as a live feed from the white house showed Obama walking away from the press conference in which he had just announced the death of Bin Laden.
— AFP with additional staff reporting.
