Slashdot Mirror
Hijacked Fox News Twitter Account Falsely Claims Obama Shot Dead
Frankie70 writes with word of a Twitter-account hijacking that's raised eyebrows today, supplying a link to the account in question. From the Telegraph's account: "'The Twitter account of the American Fox News Politics team was compromised and used to falsely announce the death of the U.S. president. Hackers, who identified themselves as 'The Script Kiddies' and said they shared the spirit of prominent hacking group Anonymous, used the account to write: 'BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It's a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP.'"
and hackers are stymieing FNC's efforts to bring us the truth by claiming they've hacked them, when in reality they've hacked all the other news channels to remove the story.
This is your corporate account. How does this happen?
In all fairness, Fox News did claim (accidentally) that the president was dead in Afghanistan.
When some script kiddies can rattle the news world.
Bah, so shoddily written and obviously fake that's it's not even funny. Sure, hacking Fox is funny by principle, but maybe doing something more subtle?
until I see the long form death certificate....
what's the point of hacking fox news to spread disinformation? Just leave them alone and they will do it by themselves.
DO!!
It's some kid's clone account, foxnewspolitics. This is not fox news, you stupid goddamn motherfucking asshole !! Bill and I are good friends and I know he will kick your ass !!
I can't see where the hacker begins and ends.... They've put out so much junk (as usual) it's silly.
End of Line.
I don't understand why these tweets have not yet been deleted 6-7 hours after they were posted. Does Fox News not know you can delete tweets?
I fail to see how anyone noticed. This is about as correct as Fox's other news.
Every one of these 'hacker' news stories brings us one step closer to an internet kill switch. The government knows that the riots will begin soon in the US, and they are trying to set things up to make it hard to communicate. Beware.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/04/foxnewspolitics-twitter-feed-hacked/
I would much prefer that the hackers be hunted down and have their Kill Switch flipped...with the help of an HK416.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
... is optional 2-factor authentication.
@foxnewspolitics (the account in question) only has 33k followers but other prominent accounts have many more. A quick check shows @foxnews has 3/7 million and CNN has over 2 million. The ability to spread news to millions of people NEEDS to have more than just a single password.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
no problem, we'll just attach more strings...
When content falsely attributed to LulzSec started showing up on Pastebin, and their response was essentially "it's not real unless we tweet it", I really, *really* wanted someone to crack their Twitter account. A Twitter credentials dump could lead to some some serious lulz.
Come on kids, everyone knows the only real way to get back at an evil media mogul is to broadcast him on his own channel saying that his viewers mean as much to him as a festering bowl of dog snot does. Bonus points if you get the reference.
Monstar L
it's not Obama that has been shot dead; it's all the rubber checks he wrote before being elected on government reforms etc that has been shot dead, fairly early on in his presidency too. he has proven himself to be just like the retard he replaced in most respects. reform my ass.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
If the other two cable network news outlets had some second tier twitter account hacked, it would just be a minor footnote story about how insecure the internet is. But because it it is the evil "Faux News" who doesn't tow the progressive line, it is a major headline and an opportunity for the childlike masses to stroke themselves into a frenzy of Fox bashing and demonizing. You can start your countdown now for the Palin/Bachman/Trump troll threads and bashfests, and the unclever anti-fox KOS memes.
Foxnews contacted the secret service who declined to comment publicly but asked them why they thought their twitter account warranted investigation by the secret service and told them to stop calling.
They cannot say with certitude if they were actually hijacked. I'm thinking Hannity got this drink on last night...
haha hehe hoho
So I guess you're voting for the Republican candidate in 2012 then?
false flag!
So you're saying the government is behind these attacks?
If not, then it's NOT "false flag" - it's just being opportunistic.
False flag is a situation where you attack yourself while trying to make it look like an enemy attack.
Or you try to instigate between two enemies by attacking one of them while wearing the uniform/flag of the other enemy.
First the tooth fairy and now this. DAM.
Tell me, Sherlock, how do I determine that I shouldn't read a post?
Up yours.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
"You may have heard of recent incidents involving compromised accounts on major Web sites, including Twitter. To strengthen the integrity of our systems and accounts and ensure compliance with Federal cybersecurity laws and recommendations, we at Twitter are now instituting a stronger authentication system. In order to continue posting after 11:59:59 PM 2011-07-04, we require your full name, address, Social Security Number (SSN), Date of Birth (DOB), and valid US credit card information. Click Here to verify and secure your account.
We hope you continue to use Twitter.
--The Management"
Insert logo, sidebars, random tips about hashtag and @ usage, and cute birdies as needed.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
it is a major headline and an opportunity for the childlike masses to stroke themselves into a frenzy of Fox bashing and demonizing
Those of us who actually read the headline for this slashdot article noticed it started with "hijacked fox news twitter account". If slashdot was actually looking to make fox news look bad, they would have chosen a less-friendly headline. Both news outlets are on the payroll of newsmax.com/townhall.com.
Palin
Is not officially running for anything right now. We just know she loves being in front of a camera.
Bachmann
Is running, but writes her own jokes.
Trump
Has already dropped out of the running.
unclever anti-fox KOS memes.
Do you honestly believe that the daily Kos is the only website ever to make a joke at fox news's expense?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
... by the way they expressed sadness over Obama's death.
They probably believed it because it came from Fox News.
Why would someone "hack" a Fox news twitter account and promptly announce something that the followers of that account would cheer at, or at least be mildly glad of it? Why Tweet something huge like that?
Everything about the Tweet that was sent screams immature and/or amateur, but the content of it hints at some twisted intent that no real hackers would have.
"The Script Kiddies"? Come the fuck on.
If I were going to hack a Fox Twitter account, I'd send a message that was contrary to Fox's agenda. Something like "Boehner, Cantor, McConnell found performing gay satanic ritual in Capitol basement. Nervous goats on scene, US flags burning."
Many Americans will think of it as voting against Obama.
It kinda sucks to be stuck standing on big-ear's coattails right now.
What they should have done was announce that Fox News was officially supporting Barack Obama for re-election. Then they would have to contract it by saying that Fox News doesn't support Barak Obama for... oh wait, they already say that in every story they run.
people who did this can face some hard time for this!
It's a crime just to make a joke about killing the President and it's federal time without parole.
I just received mod points and I was torn on whether to mod a comment up for a sentiment I agree with regarding this topic, or to post myself. I don't really want to mod down those I disagree with, I would like to. but I will be satisfied if their score remained 0. I understand the diversity in political opinions, and realize people's opinions of this will cover the spectrum, myself included, however I think a lot of these opinions lack objectivity. I understand Fox is a right leaning news org, and most of their employees have opposite ideals and political leanings than that of the President, however I highly doubt that the disgusting msgs tweeted from their account originated from anyone at Fox News. It would do nothing to serve their interests, and they stand to gain nothing from this, they could only lose. Their enemies are a many, and seek to discredit them in anyway they can. Go to Media Matters website. The last time I was there, not ONE story was about anything other than Fox News, and not one was positive, nor would I expect it to be knowing the sources behind it. It stands to reason that this is a result of the ideology behind sites such as that as opposed to Fox News using their brand and power to shout out something so obviously untrue. Think about it. Even if you hate Fox, it just doesn't make sense for anyone working their to think that this would serve any agenda. If I could believe that someone at Fox did this, it is an incredible stretch to think that anyone in a management or supervisory role would think this was a good idea. The most likely offense they are guilty of in this situation, is having a weak password protecting their twitter account. Of course I can't say with certitude who is responsible for this, but this stinks of opposition tactics, and it's not even well done. I am disappointed in many of the comments I am seeing here, but I will save my mod points for comments more worthy of them.
I think you are posting on the wrong forum. This site, through the surprisingly effective moderation system, leans heavily toward rational analysis when compared to most.
While there is a significant bias in favor of a fairly strict interpretation of the Bill of Rights (though at times the second gets shorter shrift than I might prefer) on this site, that is a bias that would serve my nation (and, I believe, most nations) quite well. And it may be that the offenses to the first and fourth have been most heavily observed to come from the side of the aisle you seem to prefer (at least until Obama took that ball and ran with it). But your post seems targeted at forums which play host to leftists. Certainly the amount of rational disdain that this forum focuses on the left-oriented oligarchs in the health care, law, and copyright industries should be more than adequate evidence of the lack of partisan line-toe-ing here.
Save your implications of dupery for people who do not engage in critical thinking. Your attempt to induce stigma-based inhibition to identifying and publishing cases of media bias and politicians who generate more heat than light are neither warranted nor productive in this place.
If you must pander to one side, do it by pointing out factual errors or examples of emotionalism on the side you do not like. Engage in creative destruction by rational deconstruction; leave your emotionalist inhibition mongering at home.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
These guys could have manipulated stock prices by saying like Steve Jobs is dead.
I hear some rustling in the supplies closet.
Find me the statute which makes it a federal crime to joke about the president having been killed, and I'll find you the part of the Constitution which makes it invalid.
Why would they have the decency to delete the tweets.
http://i.imgur.com/uwPEt.jpg
Script Kiddies wear the name as a badge of honor, while "hacker" is a epithet for criminals. Clearly the apocalypse is nigh.
Crap. What did the new CSS do with the "Post anonymously" option??
1) Post strange, inappropriate, or out-of-character message on your twitter account
2) Claim to get hacked
3) Admit it was actually you and it was an accident
While I am not a Fox fan, that was a pretty idiotic thing to do. Unwanted attention and visits from the g-men? Yep. You just won your prize!
Tweet anything else BUT do not be so da*ned dumb to tweet anything referencing assassination of the PoTUS.
I bet these nimrods were the same ones poking hive's when they were kids and wondering why they kept getting stung.
Fox will probably push the issue and these idiots will get jail time. Meanwhile Slastdotters will moan and groan about how unjust it was to prosecute the mental midgets.
That is just one line you do not cross.
would be President Biden.
I am not an Obama fan. In fact, I really dislike Obama, but I'd rather have him for 8 years than Joe Biden for 1.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
"If you think there are only two candidates, there WILL be only two candidates." - The zen of "Democracy".
"Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world. " - Asimov.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say twitter itself is compromised. Recently my account was hijacked. It used a strong password and I've only logged into it twice in the past 2 years. Suddenly a few days ago my twitter account starts sending out spam. I use different passwords for every site (including twitter) so how did this happen? I strongly suspect that twitter has been cracked and that the people that did it are keeping a very low profile to avoid getting caught.
How many journalists said US Special Forces had killed the President when they meant to say Bin Laden, then giggled about their screw up?
Were any of these professional journalists in trouble? No. Why is this news?
Only the dead have seen the end of War. - Plato
...they'll be telling us Elvis Presley is dead. And after that, they'll probably start a death rumor about Michael Jackson.
Except the rich have to do something with their money, usually putting it in a bank, or investing it, which is used to fund loans to other businesses or individuals, which generates jobs or allows people to get mortgages.
Yet having too much liquidity can lead to massive bubbles, as investors seek advantageous places to put large sums. Speculation can do nasty things like drive up oil prices, much as we saw in 2008, or land prices, such as we saw shortly thereafter.
Bubbles happen where there is too much investment money to play with. Investment houses have an incentive to work the bubbles, as the house holds all the cards. And bubbles have an enormous negative impact on the functioning of the economy as a whole. I see no justifiable reason for increasing the amount of money that rich people have, and many historically backed arguments against doing so -- essentially eviscerating your point above.
Money the government spends on things people wouldn't buy on their own (agricultural subsidies, bank bailouts) create inefficiency in the economy and slow growth.
When things are not quite so corrupt, we have seen the following instead:
Money the government spends on things people wouldn't buy on their own (bridges, basic research) creates efficiency in the economy and generates growth.
The arguments for spreading resources more broadly across a population are much stronger and more numerous than the arguments for concentrating wealth in the hands of a select few. I would not go so far as to be a French Republican (circa the late 1700s), but I would go so far as to describe the recent tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy push as an exceedingly bad idea.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."