Newsweek Twitter feed briefly hacked

By MAE ANDERSON
AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Newsweek Twitter feed was briefly hacked Tuesday morning, purportedly by a group associated with the Islamic State.

Several posts to Newsweek’s Twitter feed referenced Cyber Caliphate, a hacker group affiliated with the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the hacking. The posts, which began shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern, included a message targeting President Barack Obama, the first lady and their daughters.

The posts also showed pictures of apparent Pentagon-related documents. The posts were erased about 10 minutes later.

Newsweek owner International Business Times confirms that the account was hacked and says it has regained control.

“We apologize to our readers for anything offensive that might have been sent from our account during that period, and are working to strengthen our newsroom security measures going forward,” IBT Media said in an emailed statement.

Newsweek did not say how the account was accessed. Grant Burningham, front page editor of Newsweek, said that the attack was “a pretty garden-variety attack” but did not elaborate.

Separately, Delta Air Lines Inc.’s Facebook feed was apparently hacked on Tuesday. The company said in a statement that the page was “compromised” and apologized for the “unauthorized, objectionable content” that was posted.

The breaches are the latest hacks of high-profile social media accounts. In January, the New York Post and UPI’s Twitter feed, as well as Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command, were hacked.

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