AP's Twitter Account Hack, Stocks Drop
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The Associated Press Twitter account posted "Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."
The news wire has since confirmed its account has been hijacked, referring to the tweet in question as "bogus."
But effects of the major hack — not the first to impact a news agency on Twitter were being felt. The Dow plummeted nearly 100 points following the worrying tweet, though stocks have largely bounced back from the dive.
The Associated Press account has since been suspended, an obvious measure to prevent further false information from being distributed by a typically reliable news source. The AP says today's intrusion came after hackers "made repeated attempts to steal the passwords of AP journalists" — a mission it would seem they ultimately succeeded at. One employee, Mike Baker, reveals that the hack came in close proximity to a phishing email received by AP staffers.
As for who's behind the brief scare, the Syrian Electronic Army, which took credit for a hack against Reuters last year, has claimed responsibility. A tweet from the @AP_Mobile account (also currently suspended) reads "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here."
