Associated Press Twitter Accounts Hacked, Fake White House Bomb Report Posted

I can haz secure password?
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A few days ago, CBS News’s Twitter accounts were hacked, and today the Associated Press was targeted.

LONDON (AP) — Hackers have compromised the main Twitter account of The Associated Press, sending out an erroneous tweet about an attack at the White House.

The tweet, which said that there had been two explosions at the White House and President Barack Obama was injured, came after hackers made repeated attempts to steal the passwords of AP journalists.

Here’s a screenshot of that tweet (h/t: Gus) - please note that this report is false. (And unfortunately, it was retweeted thousands of times in just a few minutes.)

It wasn’t just one AP account, either; @AP_Mobile was also hacked.

And if you ever wondered whether stock traders pay attention to Twitter, wonder no more:

The Dow has since recovered, but an awful lot of money changed hands as a result of that bogus tweet.

UPDATE at 4/23/13 11:01:24 am

Another interesting piece of info:

UPDATE at 4/23/13 11:18:25 am

And we have our first right wing persecution whine already:

Doesn’t matter what it’s about — any news at all instantly becomes another excuse for wingnuts to feel persecuted.

UPDATE at 4/23/13 11:31:26 am

And now we have a claim of responsibility:

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73 comments
1 erik_t  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:01:12am

Between this and the auto-sell freakout from a while back, it’s becoming clear to me that an absolute real-time stock market is not a good idea. This should come as no surprise, I suppose: any construct that encourages and rewards instant-decisions-without-thought is likely to be a suboptimal one.

2 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:01:27am

If Dim Jim starts Tweeting accurate, factual reports, we will know he has been hacked.

3 Shiplord Kirel  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:01:46am

Have the LA cops shot any suspects yet?

4 RadicalModerate  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:02:03am

And now this from TMZ:


1600 Pennsylvania Ave Swatting: Hacker Group Threatens to Bomb White House

The hacker group that claims responsibility for exposing private financial information about Michelle Obama and many other celebrities has issued an ultimatum to the U.S. Government — either declare war on North Korea or they will detonate bombs at the White House … TMZ has learned.

We’re told the group — which claims responsibility for swatting Rihanna, Diddy, Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake, Paris Hilton, Chris Brown, Tom Cruise and others — contacted authorities through 911 and threatened to detonate 8 devices around the White House perimeter if President Obama does not declare war within 24 hours.

5 jaunte  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:03:33am

New day-trader tactic?

6 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:05:15am
7 Sarah Handel  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:05:43am

That is what happens when people act precipitously without verifying. Such is the plague infesting journalism as we know it.

8 Gus  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:06:25am

re: #4 RadicalModerate

And now this from TMZ:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave Swatting: Hacker Group Threatens to Bomb White House

Something tells me that whoever is responsible will be facing criminal charges. At least if they’re from the states. Although in these cases it’s hard to tell who is who. Could be some other nutcase piggy backing on the initial AP hacks. Freak magnets and all.

9 jaunte  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:06:27am

re: #6 Vicious Babushka

Everything you want in a currency: skyrocket behavior.

10 Lidane  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:06:54am
11 William of Orange  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:08:43am

This goes beyond pranking!

In the Netherlands several banks have been target of DDoS attacks. And no one thinks of the obvious. The only banks to have been hit over here in Europe are Dutch ones…

And now this. Someone is deliberately trying to manipulate the financial system. I’m looking at you, Russia.

12 S'latch  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:09:17am

Hacks, losers, and morons have an incredible amount of power to affect our financial markets and public safety these days.

13 Dr. Matt  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:10:30am
14 abolitionist  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:11:01am

I can haz secure password?

Offered for consideration:
Password Safe by Bruce Schneier
Password Store

Both are free. I use the 2nd because I like the simple, easy to learn and use no-install design. Schneier is a well-known security expert, of excellent reputation.

15 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:11:15am

Heh…Yeah you little fucker…we’re mocking you.

16 Charles Johnson  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:12:06am
17 GunstarGreen  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:12:06am

There may be a lesson to be learned here, about a giant screeching echo chamber full of twits that all feel the need to comment instantly on everything in 140 characters or less, and what effects that’s having on our society (and now our financial markets).

But nah, who am I kidding?

18 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:12:40am
19 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:12:55am
20 Dr. Matt  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:12:57am

And great ammunition to pass CISPA. Bravo, twits.

21 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:13:18am

TGDN is cheering this kid. Does he look like Adam Lanza?

22 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:13:44am

re: #16 Charles Johnson

23 HappyWarrior  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:14:05am

re: #16 Charles Johnson

If someone can find me a conservative pundit/blogger who isn’t a whiny little shit, I’ll buy them a beer.

24 Gus  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:14:05am

re: #16 Charles Johnson

Me, me, me!

25 William of Orange  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:14:35am

re: #2 Vicious Babushka

If Dim Jim starts Tweeting accurate, factual reports, we will know he has been hacked.

Google Curtis’ name and all you see is conspiracy bloggers reporting on him. Not one credible news source in the first 5 pages…..


… cause it’s Paul Kevin Curtis…

26 Charles Johnson  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:14:42am
27 Gus  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:14:49am

re: #21 Vicious Babushka

TGDN is cheering this kid. Does he look like Adam Lanza?

Is that a Hair Helmet™?

28 jaunte  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:15:12am

re: #27 Gus

Maybe he’s a Belieber.

29 HappyWarrior  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:16:02am

re: #26 Charles Johnson

No shit. It’s like being a conservative in 2013 is just an excuse to act like a little brat. Maybe Erickson should tell his fellow conservatives to stop comparing the president to Hitler. But naah he’s got a whine racket to run.

30 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:16:50am

Speaking of whiny little shits:

31 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:18:00am

re: #19 NJDhockeyfan

Impressive = Nigerian prince.

32 William of Orange  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:18:17am

Can’t help but feeling some naughty thoughts when I am in the possession of the Fox twitter account. At least some truth will come out of it.

33 erik_t  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:19:08am

Certain parties will not be happy.

Tip from imam led police to ‘first known al-Qaeda plan of attack that we’ve experienced’

A tip from a Toronto imam sparked an investigation that culminated in the arrests of two men who allegedly plotted to derail a Via passenger train. The imam alerted authorities more than a year ago about a person he regarded as an extremist who was corrupting youth in his community. That single tip led to what the RCMP on Monday called the first-ever Canadian bust of an alleged al-Qaeda terrorist plot.

34 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:19:08am

I would like to hack Bryan Fischer’s Twitter account and use it to post messages of love and tolerance.

35 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:21:11am

“For it is the plain fact that nowadays there are no conservative or reactionary ideas in general circulation… the conservative impulse and the reactionary impulse do not… express themselves in ideas but only… in irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.”

- Lionel Trilling (1950)

36 Bulworth  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:21:42am

re: #30 Vicious Babushka

OUTRAGESSS!!!!!111!!1

37 jaunte  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:21:55am

re: #33 erik_t

“The first comment they made, and they encouraged us to make it a talking point, is that, but for the Muslim community’s intervention, we may not have had the success we’ve had,” said Hussein Hamdani, a lawyer who was invited to the pre-briefing.

Inconceivable!

38 Bulworth  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:22:29am

re: #34 Vicious Babushka

Why do you hate Amercia? /

39 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:23:40am

CNN now leading the charge for the right wing.

40 Joanne  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:24:14am

re: #19 NJDhockeyfan

AP Hack email

Informative, helpful news would have TwitPic’d the “impressively disguised phishing email”.

41 Dr. Matt  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:27:32am

re: #19 NJDhockeyfan

Apparently their servers really suck for not flagging such potential threats.

42 Joanne  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:27:44am

re: #29 HappyWarrior

No shit. It’s like being a conservative in 2013 is just an excuse to act like a little brat. Maybe Erickson should tell his fellow conservatives to stop comparing the president to Hitler. But naah he’s got a whine racket to run.

One which makes him lotsa moolah.

43 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:27:48am

re: #40 Joanne

Informative, helpful news would have TwitPic’d the “impressively disguised phishing email”.

C1ALI5 CHEAP!

44 Charles Johnson  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:31:34am
45 HappyWarrior  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:32:37am

re: #42 Joanne

One which makes him lotsa moolah.

Yep. Really I also like it when he tries to act like he’s this moral guy when it comes to stuff like homosexuality. It’s like, oh we’re supposed to forget that you called the chief justice of the USSC a child molester after eh ruled against your position in ACA. He’s a hoot that one.

46 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:33:58am
47 Charles Johnson  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:34:21am
48 abolitionist  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:35:41am

re: #47 Charles Johnson

Because it’s about 3am in India? (outsourcing)

49 lawhawk  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:36:25am

The hackers have been sacked.

The hackers who have been sacked have themselves been hacked.

Perhaps the reason that Twitter still has that account active is so that they can help the AP and authorities track back the source?

Then again, AP would like to hear from the hackers on their exploits and this is the way they can begin that conversation. CNN will serve as moderator.

50 Mattand  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:39:45am

re: #49 lawhawk

The hackers have been sacked.

The hackers who have been sacked have themselves been hacked.

Perhaps the reason that Twitter still has that account active is so that they can help the AP and authorities track back the source?

Then again, AP would like to hear from the hackers on their exploits and this is the way they can begin that conversation. CNN will serve as moderator.

Doubleplus one for Python reference.

51 darthstar  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:39:58am
52 Lidane  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:48:31am

re: #39 darthstar

CNN now leading the charge for the right wing.

Coultergeist was saying the same thing on Hannity, along with a whole lot of other fail:

Video
53 FemNaziBitch  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:49:28am

Words of Warning Take Heed.

How is it today?

54 FemNaziBitch  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:53:39am

re: #28 jaunte

Maybe he’s a Belieber.

Now I have the Monkee’s song in my head.

55 Bulworth  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:56:46am

re: #46 darthstar

Not really sure I like the implication here that monkeys are fucking crazy, and I severely conservatively doubt the monkeys like it much either. //

56 Lidane  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:57:36am

re: #54 FemNaziBitch

Now I have the Monkee’s song in my head.

And now I have a different Monkees song in my head. Haha.

57 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 11:59:35am

re: #53 FemNaziBitch

Words of Warning Take Heed.

How is it today?

Slow-ish day at work. During breaks between stints of working on documentation I have been wandering from subject to subject in Wikipedia. Started with T.S. Eliot and ended up reading about _Candide_. Traversed Ezra Pound, John Kasper, SPLC, American Political Magazines (Mother Jones, Wilson Quarterly, The New Republic, National Review), Apatheism, and The Problem of Evil on the journey.

58 lawhawk  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:01:05pm

So, someone who’s paranoid and delusional may actually be right that someone was out to get them. Just not who they thought.

59 FemNaziBitch  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:05:53pm

re: #57 Feline Fearless Leader

Slow-ish day at work. During breaks between stints of working on documentation I have been wandering from subject to subject in Wikipedia. Started with T.S. Eliot and ended up reading about _Candide_. Traversed Ezra Pound, John Kasper, SPLC, American Political Magazines (Mother Jones, Wilson Quarterly, The New Republic, National Review), Apatheism, and The Problem of Evil on the journey.

I GOT THRU the news feed and now I’m here.

It’s wet in Chicagoland again. Yesterday was so beautiful.

60 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:07:40pm

re: #59 FemNaziBitch

I GOT THRU the news feed and now I’m here.

It’s wet in Chicagoland again. Yesterday was so beautiful.

Hazy today and feels damp, but not rain yet here in Philly. Once work stint is over it will be time to go home and cook a nice pot of chile.

61 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:15:55pm
62 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:17:51pm

re: #61 NJDhockeyfan

Donald Trump is upset at being upstaged!
/

63 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:20:03pm

DERP

64 geoffm33  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:20:49pm

re: #63 Vicious Babushka

I don’t even

66 Gus  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:27:23pm

Too cold. Must hide under the covers. Later.

67 lawhawk  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:31:11pm

re: #63 Vicious Babushka

In how many years will there be any casinos with the Trump name.

In how many years will there be an airline with the Trump name.

There’ll still be buildings with the Trump name on it, but that’s due as much to his dad’s work as anything Donald did.

68 Lidane  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:32:16pm

Heh:

69 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:34:05pm
70 FemNaziBitch  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 12:37:19pm

Sorry, but I have to post this again.

I don’t have the vocabulary to describe this, other than

WTF

71 stabby  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 2:21:17pm

re: #26 Charles Johnson

Any news at all instantly becomes another excuse for wingnuts to feel persecuted.

Need infinite updings.

For some reason, being in the white Christian majority in the US means exhibiting the ultimate in self pity - because it’s so humiliating that other kinds of people exist and can’t be completely ignored.

Damn democracy, damn it all to hell!

72 stabby  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 2:22:55pm

re: #69 NJDhockeyfan

AP’s fake tweet erased $136 billion in equity market value in 3 minutes. 2010 Flash Crash wiped out $862 billion in 20 minutes $SPX $$

Yeah, fake rumor that Obama was hurt destroyed the market, because he’s a capitalism hating communist that the market hates!

73 Decatur Deb  Tue, Apr 23, 2013 3:23:27pm

re: #58 lawhawk

So, someone who’s paranoid and delusional may actually be right that someone was out to get them. Just not who they thought.

Read his tweets, Elvis framed by John Galt:

twitter.com &cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


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