Cybersecurity

A Fake AP Tweet Sinks the Dow for an Instant

A Fake AP Tweet Sinks the Dow for an Instant — Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg

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By Jared Keller

April 24, 2013 at 5:16 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The nearly two million people who follow the Twitter feed of the Associated Press were treated to a nasty surprise this afternoon: a tweet (since deleted) claiming there had been an explosion at the White House that injured President Obama:

A Fake AP Tweet Sinks the Dow for an Instant — A fake tweet sent from the AP's official twitter accountJared Keller/Twitter