NY Post confirms hack after website, Twitter feed flooded with threats toward Biden, AOC
UPDATE: The New York Post told CNN on Thursday that the attack was done by someone employed by the newspaper.
"The New York Post’s investigation indicates that the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee, and we are taking appropriate action. This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts," a spokesperson said.
The employee has been fired, according to The New York Post.
PREVIOUSLY: The New York Post confirmed on Thursday morning that it had been hacked after the newspaper’s Twitter feed and website were inundated with offensive posts about politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. President Joe Biden and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
The newspaper did not respond to requests for comment but quickly removed the posts and wrote on Twitter that it had been hacked and was investigating the incident.
The New York Post has been hacked. We are currently investigating the cause.
— New York Post (@nypost) October 27, 2022
The popular tabloid is owned by News Corp and has 2.8 million followers on Twitter. As of 10:30 am ET, the offensive posts had been removed from the company’s Twitter feed and website.
While many of the links were only offensive headlines leading to no actual news story pages, some did have full – but fake – articles, leading some experts to question whether the hackers had access to the New York Post’s content management system.
Screenshots of the fake posts.
The New York Post is just the latest news outlet to face a situation like this in recent weeks after Fast Company was hacked almost exactly one month ago.
In that incident, hackers breached the news outlet’s internal content management systems and sent two offensive push notifications through Apple News to thousands of people. The magazine's website was temporarily shut down, as well as that of Inc. Magazine, which is owned by the same publisher.
An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.— Apple News (@AppleNews) September 28, 2022
Jonathan Greig
is a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.