Name: Anonymous 2013-04-25 22:08
False tweet sends US markets down
HACKERS took control of the Associated Press Twitter account on Tuesday and sent a false tweet about explosions in the White House that briefly sent US financial markets reeling.
In the latest high-profile hacking incident involving Twitter, an official @AP account reported that two explosions at the White House injured President Barack Obama.
But within three minutes of the tweet, virtually all US markets tooks a plunge on the false news, in what one trader described as "pure chaos".
The FBI and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) both said they were probing the incident. FBI spokesman Jenny Shearer did not provide further details beyond confirming an investigation. Reuters data showed the tweet briefly wiped out US$136.5 billion (S$169b) of the S&P 500 index's value before markets recovered.
SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher said that the agency was looking into the bogus tweet's impact on the markets.
A group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army, which supports President Bashar al-Assad, claimed responsibility on its own Twitter feed for the AP hack. - Reuters.
HACKERS took control of the Associated Press Twitter account on Tuesday and sent a false tweet about explosions in the White House that briefly sent US financial markets reeling.
In the latest high-profile hacking incident involving Twitter, an official @AP account reported that two explosions at the White House injured President Barack Obama.
But within three minutes of the tweet, virtually all US markets tooks a plunge on the false news, in what one trader described as "pure chaos".
The FBI and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) both said they were probing the incident. FBI spokesman Jenny Shearer did not provide further details beyond confirming an investigation. Reuters data showed the tweet briefly wiped out US$136.5 billion (S$169b) of the S&P 500 index's value before markets recovered.
SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher said that the agency was looking into the bogus tweet's impact on the markets.
A group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army, which supports President Bashar al-Assad, claimed responsibility on its own Twitter feed for the AP hack. - Reuters.