Only 9/11/11 Terror is Twitter-Transmitted Fake NBC News

Published September 12th, 2011 - 02:00 GMT
Twitter Terror strikes NBC's social media management as hacker fakes hijacking alerts.
Twitter Terror strikes NBC's social media management as hacker fakes hijacking alerts.

A hacker broke into the Twitter account of NBC News and sent out a handful of false tweets about a suspected hijacking and a plane attack at ground zero just days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Staffers noticed the false tweets at around 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday, contacted Twitter and soon after had the account suspended.

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

A group calling themselves Script Kiddies mentioned themselves in the tweets and appeared to be responsible.

By about 7 p.m. Eastern, the account was restored and the false tweets removed. NBC is contacting authorities including the New York Police Department and FBI about the incident.