LOL!
Hackers Put Fake Stories on USA Today Web Site
Fri Jul 12,12:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fake news stories appeared on the Web site of USA Today after vandals apparently broke into the newspaper's computers Thursday night, a USA Today spokesman said Friday.
Intruders placed six bogus stories on the site and included links on the front page at around 11 p.m. EDT Thursday, spokesman Steven Anderson said.
Editors took the site offline 15 minutes later, and restored service at about 2 a.m. Friday, Anderson said.
The stories did not have any particular ideological bent but appeared to be pranks -- one story said the Supreme Court declared the shape of the Pentagon ( news - web sites) to be unconstitutional, Anderson said.
Readers could easily determine that the stories were not legitimate because they were poorly written, he said.
"It was very prankish, very immature," he said.
The attack did not come from within USA Today's computer system, but nothing else was yet known about the identity of the attackers or the method of intrusion, Anderson said. Local law enforcement authorities have been notified, he said.
Hackers have placed illegitimate news stories on other news sites, including Yahoo Inc. and the New York Times , over the past several years.
"Any site that's out there on the Internet runs this risk," Anderson said.
USA Today is owned by Gannett Co. Inc.. |
