Hackers post fake Obama assassination tweets by Fox News


4 Jul 2011

A group broke into a Fox News Twitter account and posted fake news claiming US President Barack Obama has been assassinated.

Mashable reports that the group responsible is called ‘Scriptkiddies.’ It boasted about breaking into @foxnewspolitics.

The group then made several tweets on Fox News’ account, claiming that Obama had been shot twice at a Ross’ restaurant in Iowa by an unnamed shooter.

It also wished US vice-president Joe Biden luck, claiming he was the new president.

The group seemed to only gain access to Fox News’ political Twitter account, as the Obama assassination claims appear nowhere else on the US news outlet’s other Twitter accounts or on its website.

This is the second breach of a media outlet in recent months. One of LulzSec’s early attacks saw it gain access to the PBS website and post a fake news story claiming that rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were alive in New Zealand. Scriptkiddies is reportedly not connected to Lulzsec, which recently disbanded.