The hacking of a Fox News Channel Twitter page raises new questions about Internet security.
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If you examine the tweets, your first sense of alarm will likely be quickly replaced with skepticism. One tweet encourages retweets "to support the late president's family." Had the president indeed been shot, Mrs. Obama wouldn't likely pause to thank people around the world for their retweets while mourning her husband's death.
That shows the hackers simply wanted their misinformation to spread quickly. While these unknown people got their moment in the spotlight, they need to think about the consequences.
The U.S. Secret Service is now involved in the investigation. That's something that wouldn't have happened had the hackers falsely reported a celebrity's death. It's not likely the federal government will think this is just a harmless prank and shrug it off.
Fox News says it will ask Twitter for an investigation. Twitter has responded by saying its servers weren't broken into, but that the email account linked to the Twitter feed may be to blame.
This entire scenario should be a warning to every media company. While any business can be the victim of hackers, the most damage can be done when a media outlet is the victim because false information will be believed and shared quickly before the hackers' actions are detected.
A media company should review its social media policies and how it uses these tools. You are putting your brand's credibility in the hands of another company and entrusting that it will be safe.
Next, make sure your passwords are securely created. If your password is something like the name of your business followed by "123", you're asking for trouble.
Do regular assessments within your company. Are there disgruntled workers or former employees with access to your systems who might do you harm? Make sure to change passwords to block attacks from within.
Some people will point to Fox News Channel's conservative viewpoint and say these false tweets were probably wishful thinking that something bad would happen to the president. But any news organization, regardless of its editorial stance, will not want to harm its media brand in this way. Hopefully, whatever information is uncovered will lead to the punishment of the hackers and insight on how to prevent social media security breaches.
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