Media

NBC News Twitter Hacked by ‘The Script Kiddies’: Falsely Claim Ground Zero Attack

NBC News Twitter Hacked by The Script Kiddies: Falsely Claim Ground Zero Attack

A collective hacker group dubbed “The Script Kiddies” broke into the Twitter account of NBC News Friday, sending out a series of false tweets about a suspected hijacking and a plane attack at ground zero just days before the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

According to AP, staffers noticed the false tweets at around 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday, contacted Twitter and shortly after had the network’s account suspended.

Host Brian Williams then read a statement on air saying the reports were false.

By around 7 p.m. Eastern, NBC’s Twitter account was reinstated and the false tweets removed. NBC is reportedly contacting authorities including the New York Police Department and FBI about the incident.

The Script Kiddies were previously known for posting a false Obama assassination report on the FOX News Twitter.

NBC News issued a statement: “The NBC News twitter account was hacked late this afternoon and as a result, false reports of a plane attack on ground zero were sent to @NBCNews followers. We are working with Twitter to correct the situation and sincerely apologize for the scare that could have been caused by such a reckless and irresponsible act.”

Below is the NBC Twitter feed captured from the hacking:

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  • NBCNEWS hacked by The Script Kiddies. Follow them at @s_kiddies!

  • Flight 4782 is not responding, suspected hijacking. One plane just hit Ground Zero site at 5:47. #groundzeroattacked

  • Breaking News! Ground Zero has just been attacked. Flight 5736 has crashed into the site, suspected hijacking. more as the story develops.

Below are other Twitter users rebuking the group for posting the egregious messages:

Comments (38)

  • CriticXtreme
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:00pm

    Only a bunch of sick mofos would do something like this. Have you forgot or not been trained in hacker etiquette or is this just a bunch of chromosome 13′s being media whores?

    Report Post »  
  • jrandolph1200
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:59pm

    NBC will probably give these guys a job for their creative skills at false reporting.

    Report Post » jrandolph1200  
  • FaithfulFriend
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 2:10pm

    This tweet is not from the hackers:
    NBCNews NBC News
    RT @AnnCurry: Flying into Iran, our interview with Pres. Ahmadinejad on NBCNews next week. yfrog.com/gzqk2qkkj

    I’m sure Ann Curry will be tough on Ahmadinejad the maniac.

    Report Post » FaithfulFriend  
  • ZengaPA65
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 1:43pm

    Suuuurrreeeee it was hacked.

    Report Post » ZengaPA65  
  • TxMadMac
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:44am

    I think it came from china since GE has given them all our technology.

    Report Post »  
  • olddog
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:06am

    The script kiddies, yep I know who they are. A bunch of old Tea Party people with nothing better to do with their lives but play pranks and start trouble with not much ambition.Probably learned how to hack from their grandkids. Yep they gotta be conservatives, leftists would never ever do things like this..

    Report Post » olddog  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:03am

    Gosh, how did the world survive without Twitter?

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • OutofSympathy
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:32am

    These “kiddies” are a group of morons, end of story. This isn’t even about free speech, it’s about a bunch of dumb azz kids who have very little common sense.

    If any of you morons are reading this then remember a few things. This country as already been attacked and your idiotic prank could easily have caused a panic that very well could lead to deaths. Imagine the mother or father of someone whom was lost on 9/11 hearing this crappola and having a heart attack. Imagine people hearing this and panicking to the point of fleeing and hitting a pedestrian just trying to get home.

    Report Post »  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:18am

    They should be put in jail for this one…yelling fire in a theater will get you jail time.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States Read the courts decision.

    That was not and is not an act of free speech! So libs STFU on this one.

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
    • Napkin
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 12:26pm

      Jail? Who was harmed? I find it pretty funny. It would take a person all of 5 seconds to turn on the news and find out it wasn’t true. It was only twitter after all….
      Lighten up Francis…..

      Report Post »  
    • Chet Hempstead
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 5:07pm

      Napkin is right. What kind of idiot gets their news from a twitter feed instead of just going to the actual website of your preferred news organization and getting a little more depth than 140 characters? I’m not saying what they did wasn’t illegal or that they shouldn’t be punished, I’m just not particularly concerned about the emotional distress of anyone who panics over a tweet that they can immediately see is unconfirmed by any other source.

      Report Post »  
    • Chet Hempstead
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 5:21pm

      And Schenck v United States was one of the Supreme Court’s lousiest decisions. What the Script Kiddies did is certainly not protected by the First Amendment, but what Schenck did should have been. He urged non-cooperation in the draft during World War I. Though, the phrase “falsely shouting fire in a theatre “ comes from the decision in this case, it’s really more like shouting “this play stinks.”

      Report Post »  
  • mpierce
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:17am

    I don’t have a twitter account and never will. It appears to be a waste of time.

    Report Post »  
  • Lone Ranger
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 3:19am

    How DARE these hackers place a false story on NBC’s twitter site. That‘s NBC’s job!

    Report Post » Lone Ranger  
  • SplinterVA
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 2:43am

    Look out you little script kiddies Lucifer now has techno experts:

    http://blog.curry.com/stories/2011/09/09/itsGoingToGetInterestingOn.html

    … “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!”

    Report Post » SplinterVA  
  • Affirmative Blaction
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 2:17am

    script tends to be slang refering to prescription drugs…the kids on drugs? On another note, maybe NBC is playing the real joke on us.

    Report Post » Affirmative Blaction  
    • Marci
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 2:34am

      Affirmative—my thoughts were exactly that. All these “hackers” seem to be hitting Obama friendly places. How convenient for a need for more intrusive “net neutrality”.

      Report Post » Marci  
  • miles from nowhere
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 12:42am

    Could not have happened to a worst news station, NBC. NAZI Born Criminals!

    Report Post »  
    • TXPilot
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 1:25am

      What a horrible thing to do!!….they probably scared the Hell out of all of NBC’s three viewers!!…For shame!!

      Report Post » TXPilot  
  • mikester8888
    Posted on September 10, 2011 at 12:22am

    Whats a man to do when his fingers are just to big to be a twitter. Some say im blessed. I tend to agree.
    Its amazing to me to believe that NBC didnt check the facts before sharing the information. It makes me wonder, had it been a union officials kid playing the prank, the responce might be a little different. Say, ….well those youngsters are at it again. I surely hope there dad grounds them at least till school starts on Monday. Or maybe….Its just those boys being boys. There really just a chip off the ole blocks……………..Would you disagree?

    Report Post »  
  • spirited
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 11:09pm

    Heartless goats….

    Report Post » spirited  
  • godhatesacoward
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:46pm

    IT’s CALLED TERRORISM!

    Report Post » godhatesacoward  
    • godhatesacoward
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:50pm

      Catch them and throw the book at them. Sad thing is that these turds are more than likely 12-17 years old and will only get a slap on the wrist!

      Report Post » godhatesacoward  
    • Patriot Z
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 3:01am

      i say when we fing out who they are put their faces, names, addresses, parents work, their work, school everything on the web and make their lives hell. show them why terror is not funny. i hope their are found and put in the hospital

      Report Post » Patriot Z  
  • tbconrad
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:42pm

    The funniest thing was that the twitter account had 7600+ posts and only 1 follower

    Report Post »  
  • georgiavietvet
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:35pm

    catch ‘em, lock ‘em up, throw away the key…………………………….

    Report Post »  
  • ZAP
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:13pm

    According to a a federal law enforcement source who spoke on condition of not being identified, Obama was not legally in the United States and has been previously ordered removed from the country.

    Report Post » ZAP  
  • Pontiac
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:12pm

    Only took 3 minutes or so for them to admit the hacking… Kind of pointless really. I mean, who follows NBC minute by minute?

    Report Post » Pontiac  
  • jb.kibs
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:45pm

    pretty demented.

    Report Post »  
  • Stumpy762
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:43pm

    Absolutely despicable…

    Report Post » Stumpy762  
  • MikeyMoose
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:41pm

    I hope these “kiddies” are caught and never again have the freedom to use a computer for such sick purposes…this is just unbelievable! And just watch, the ACLU will probably jump in to defend them on 1st amendment grounds…

    Report Post » MikeyMoose  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:40pm

    Has anyone considered this probability — Al Queda operatives may be capable of hacking the various twitter information accounts; and then use their ability to input false flags and such to deliberatly cause panic on the anniversary date?

    The usage of twitter for flash mobs and riots made me think just how easy it would be for them to use it as a staged fake attack incident; and then set off several real ones at the same time or shortly after to really cause panic and chaos.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • 82dAirborne
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:50pm

      Snow – That’s a possibility. Whomever did this crap needs to go to jail for a long time. It has to fall under “Forgery” or “Disturbing the Peace”…..something!!

      I am beginning to like the idea of public caning in lieu of jail time. Or in addition to jail time.

      Report Post » 82dAirborne  
    • MikeyMoose
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:52pm

      Good point…and hopefully everyone will be mindful that such a thing could indeed happen, and not over-react to things they see online over the next few days.

      Report Post » MikeyMoose  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:54pm

      they have to be, i mean.. our military can’t beat them… so they have to be “that good” ;P

      Report Post »  
    • sissykatz
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 10:54pm

      Snow you may be right….. I think these people should be punished.

      82 Hello and I like the idea of caning also. I’m so disgusted because no one is being punished
      no matter what they do. That is why we have so much of it. Somebody needs to be made an
      example….. The Gov. is stealing us blind, flash mobs are stealing the retailers blind, nothing will
      be done about the “Fast and Furious” mess. No one was punished for voter intimidation.

      I am just getting sick and tired of all of it……..

      Report Post »  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on September 10, 2011 at 12:17am

      @jb.kibs
      Posted on September 9, 2011 at 9:54pm
      they have to be, i mean.. our military can’t beat them… so they have to be “that good” ;P
      ***
      If they’d let our military truly fight, we’d have beaten them years ago. We have the weaponry, the manpower and the training, but when you have to be afraid lest you offend or scare the citizens they hide behind, no one will ever beat them because there’s no collective will to do so.

      Report Post » Mil Mom  

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