Obama, Britney's Twitter accounts hacked

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January 5, 2009

FROM SUN-TIMES STAFF REPORTS

The social networking site "Twitter" was hit with a hacker attack Monday with several popular accounts -- including President-elect Barack Obama, CNN's Rick Sanzchez, The Huffington Post and Bill O'Reilly -- according to several reports.

"This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been "hacked" including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues). We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue. Rick, Barack, and others are now back in control of their accounts."

Twitter officials said the accounts were hacked using a Phishing scam by an indivudual who hacked into some of the tools the company's support team uses to maintain Twitter.

Obama's Twitter page urged visitors to take an online survey and win a gas card. Other Britney Spears' Twitter page included obscene language. A note critical of anchor Bill O'Reilly was apparently posted on the Fox News Twitter page, according to MSNBC.