The Associated Press Twitter account was hijacked and used to post a false report of two explosions at the White House, claiming that President Obama had been injured. The Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-Assad group, claimed responsibility.
What happened
- The false tweet appeared shortly after 1pm US Eastern time on 23 April 2013.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by about 130 points within minutes before recovering once the report was shown to be false.
- AP quickly confirmed the account had been hacked and suspended it.
- It was reported that AP staff had received phishing emails shortly before the takeover.
Why it mattered
The incident showed how a single compromised social media account could move financial markets, and it helped push Twitter to introduce two-step verification later that year. It also highlighted the risk of automated trading systems reacting instantly to unverified news.
Lessons for organisations
Organisations should protect official social media accounts with multi-factor authentication, restrict who holds the credentials, and train staff to recognise phishing. A plan for quickly correcting false posts limits reputational damage.
Source: NPR
Part of our Top stories archive of headline-making events in information security, privacy, and AI. If you would like help applying the lessons to your organisation, contact us.
