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  1. NBC victim of 9/11 twitter hack

    NBC victim of 9/11 twitter hack

    The NBC News twitter account was hacked on the 9th September 2011 by a group called the Script Kiddies.

    The US was already on high alert as the tenth anniversary approaches. And the hackers used the account to send messages to over 120,000 followers, claiming that Ground Zero was again victim of terrorist attacks in New York.

    The tweets said “This is not a joke, Ground Zero has just been attacked. We’re attempting to get reporters on the scene. #groundzeroattacked.”

    Just a minute later the hackers announced “NBCNEWS hacked by the Script Kiddies. Follow them at @s_kiddies!”

    lhm-newshack

    Twitter responded quickly to the hack, suspending the account of the group. While Luke Russert the NBC News political correspondent: “Please ignore NOT TRUE tweets coming from @NBC News. We got hacked by tasteless despicable attention seeking criminals.”

    The Script Kiddies were also linked to the Fox News twitter hack, which led to the reports that the president had been assassinated to over 33,000 people. But the Ground Zero attack is certainly one of the worst examples we’ve seen yet, and this growing trend is causing real concern for news broadcasters.

    They described themselves on a cached version of their twitter page as “Anonymous Supporters :: Hackers :: Exploiting simplistic methods with hilarious results :: Occasionally doing it for teh lulz :: We are The Script Kiddies

    It is another reminder of the responsibility that businesses need to take when for the passwords and access to your online account.

    How to protect yourself on Twitter

    Personal Information:
    Make sure you never share personal details on twitter. Passwords, email addresses, phone numbers.

    Third Party Applications:
    Avoid these at all costs. I have seen IT people who have been lured in to these types of applications. Normally by fake surveys and links from people they know, that look trustworthy but clearly aren’t. You can check what third party applications your twitter account is linked to here: http://twitter.com/account/connections

    Change your password:
    Automated bots are used to gain access to your Twitter account. You can avoid being hacked by changing your password regularly.

    Preview short URL’s:
    Shortened URLs are often used to hide unsafe web addresses. Clicking and visiting unsafe websites leads to dangers of malware, phishing websites, etc. Click the “Show Preview Information for Short URLs” option in your clients such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck for added protection.

    Image courtesy of eviltomthai - Flickr Creative Commons

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