Hackers Post Fake News On Reuters Blogs
Reports of Prince Saud’s death were greatly exaggerated
News provider Reuters has had its site hacked again, with a blog carrying erroneous reports of the death of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal – days after one of its Twitter accounts was hacked.
A Reuters journalist’s blog was used to post the false story and the organisation confirmed it did not report on the claims. The fabricated post has now been deleted from Reuters blogs on Reuters.com.
Reuters has no information on who was behind the hack. It came just a matter of days after the group was hit by two attacks.
Reuters cramp
Earlier this week, Reuters admitted one of its Twitter accounts was hacked on Sunday and that up to 22 false tweets posted, mainly related to the civil war in Syria. The tweets carried false information about rebel losses in their battle against government forces, leading to speculation that pro-Assad hackers were behind the hit.
Another journalist’s blog was compromised on the same day, as hackers posted a false story claiming to carry an interview with a Syrian rebel leader.
Many notable organisations have had their Twitter and blog accounts hacked in recent months. A year ago, troubled BlackBerry maker RIM had its blog compromised by Team Poison, which was protesting the company’s reported plans to help UK police apprehend individuals involved in the London riots.
Just last week, tech website Gizmodo had its Twitter account hacked after attackers took control of various Internet accounts belonging to a former journalist.
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