Stocks Plunge Briefly Following Fake Tweet From Hacked AP Twitter Account

Posted on April 23, 2013

The Twitter account used by the Associated Press, @AP, was hacked today. The hackers sent out a false tweet saying that there had been an attack at the White House and that President Obama had been injured.

The AP's Twitter account has been temporarily suspended. The AP's @AP_Politics Twitter says, "All, AP's Twitter accounts will be suspended until we can be assured of their security. Do not respond to any news posted by these accounts."

The AP released the following statement: "The (at)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 market drop of around 140 points was short-lived, but the incident does show a hacked tweet can have an impact. Hackers could hack the account of a major company, use it to spread negative news and positive news and potentially profit from the stock's rise or fall on the market.