STOCK PRICES TOOK a battering earlier today after the Associated Press’s Twitter account was hacked and an erroneous tweet sent.
The tweet claimed that two explosions had occurred at the White House, injuring President Barack Obama.
The news agency’s Twitter account, which has almost two million followers, has been suspended since the incident. The AP said it was working to correct the issue, confirming that the hacking was preceded by a phishing attempt on its corporate network.
The AP released the following statement at 6:12pm (Irish time): “The@AP twitter account has been hacked. The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible.”
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 150 points after the fake Twitter posting, then quickly recovered.
Other markets, including oil, the yield on US government bonds and the 10-year Treasury note, also reacted negatively to the fake posting. The turmoil lasted about five minutes.
-Additional reporting by AP
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