Official Twitter feeds belonging to Barack Obama's campaign, Fox News and Britney Spears were hijacked to send out fake messages on Monday, two days after a password-stealing phishing attack targeted the microblogging service.
"A number of high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised this morning, and fake/spam updates were sent on their behalf," the company acknowledged on its website Monday. "We have identified the cause and blocked it. We are working to restore compromised accounts."
A fake message sent to followers of the Fox News Twitter feed announced that Fox host Bill O'Reilly "is gay," while a message from Britney Spears' feed made lewd comments about the singer. A tweet sent out from the Barack Obama account asked users to click on a link to take a survey about Obama and be eligible to win $500 in gasoline.
Though the fake tweets were decidedly unsubtle, the apparent compromise of the hugely popular micro blogging service could have more serious implications. Users increasingly rely on feeds from news sites and other trusted sources, and a more subtle fake Twitter message sent out from a compromised account could potentially wreak some havoc.
The flock of fake tweets followed a weekend phishing attack designed to steal Twitter passwords. It's not yet clear whether the two events are connected, though the company's warning on Monday hinted at a more widespread attack than just a handful of high-profile accounts. "As a precaution, it would be prudent to reset your Twitter password and make sure email in your settings is your own," the company wrote.
The phishing scam went after Twitterers set up to receive e-mail notification whenever they're sent a private direct message -- messages that generally come from trusted friends and followers. In this case, the e-mail notification urged them to visit a website.
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