The stock market in the U.S. fell by 1% during Tuesday’s the trading session, equivalent to $136 billion in just a few seconds after a group of hackers posted on the Twitter account of an AP journalist a false message about two explosions at White House and a wounded President Barak Obama. The fake message read: ” Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The tweet was re-tweeted thousands of times in just a few minutes before Julie Pace, AP White House correspondent tweeted: “The @AP Twitter account has been suspended after it was hacked. The tweet about an attack on the White House was false.”
The Twitter message announcing that Barack Obama was injured after the White House was attacked with bombs has come after repeated attempts by hackers to obtain passwords of Associated Press (AP) journalists, reported the news agency. The AP Twitter account was temporarily suspended and the company will work to eliminate the vulnerability used by hackers.
Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell by about 1% following the announcement, wiping $136 billion in value of the companies listed before it quickly recovered. AP used another Twitter account operated by the communications department to clarify the false announcement.
The news agency is the latest victim in a series of attacks against the media publications, including the Twitter accounts of “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours” of CBS News last week.
The announcement appeared on the AP account scared investors just days after two explosions occurred during the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring over 200.
The false tweet brings up the power of social networks on the financial markets, which are in constant motion.
The S & P 500 closed up 1% the trading session on Tuesday. Immediately after posting false messages on Twitter, investors turned to assets considered safe, influencing U.S. Treasury securities quotations and the forex markets.
The hacker attack came to the attention of the FBI, which began an investigation.
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