Reuters News has confirmed that one of its Twitter accounts was compromised over the weekend with hackers posting updates about Syria and the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation.
The account was the news service’s technology feed – @ReutersTech – and it was suspended on Sunday while investigations continued into who hacked it as well as how and why.
"Earlier today @ReutersTech was hacked and changed to @ReutersME. The account has been suspended and is currently under investigation," a statement read.
The hijacked account posted a number of messages related to the situation in Syria, with false information spread about rebel losses experienced during fighting with government forces.
The compromised Twitter feed with false messages posted
"FSA [Free Syrian Army] source confirms heavy losses within their ranks due to the superiority & sheer force of Syrian army," read one Tweet.
"FSA commander Riyad Al Asaad states a tactical withdrawal from Aleppo imminent," said another.
The US was also a target of the hackers. One of the messages claimed that President Obama had signed an agreement to ban any further investigations of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while a second claimed the US had been funding al-Qaeda.
More false messages posted by the hackers
Although the account was suspended for a while, it was live once again at the time of writing. The fake tweets posted by the hacker remain on the feed, suggesting Reuters has not yet regained full access to the account.
It is still unclear who was behind the hack and how they managed to gain access to the account. Thompson Reuters had not responded to CBR‘s request for comment at the time of publication.
This is the second security breach to hit Reuters in a matter of days after its blogging platform was hacked on Friday (August 3). Hackers posted fake news stories of interviews with rebel leaders in Syria.
