FBI exploring fabricated White House explosion tweet
In a surprising turn of events, major media outlets such as The Associated Press (AP), The New York Times (NYT), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), The Washington Post (WaPo), and CBS have not been victims of hacking or data breaches in recent months of 2025, contrary to widespread concerns.
However, the cybersecurity landscape has not been entirely peaceful. Prominent organizations in technology, healthcare, retail, and other sectors have faced significant attacks. Notable instances include the Salesforce data breach in June, Oracle Health's January-February incident, and multiple retail companies' hacking incidents.
Despite these occurrences, the AP, NYT, WSJ, WaPo, and CBS have managed to stay secure, as evidenced by the absence of their names in breach or cyberattack timelines and comprehensive cybersecurity reports from 2025.
On a different note, the Associated Press Twitter account was hacked yesterday afternoon, leading to a false tweet about explosions in the White House and the injury of President Barack Obama. The tweet was sent to AP's near-one million followers and was retweeted over 1,000 times before being taken down.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 150 points due to the false tweet, causing share prices in US markets to fluctuate. However, White House press secretary Jay Carney quickly confirmed the president's safety during a press conference to the media.
Twitter, in a statement, acknowledged that the hack was the work of extremely sophisticated hackers. As of now, no information is available about who was responsible for the hacking of the Associated Press Twitter account, and the FBI has opened an investigation into the matter.
In a separate incident, CBS News reported that fake tweets were sent from its @60Minutes and @48Hours Twitter accounts on Monday. The nature and impact of these fake tweets are yet to be fully understood.
In light of these events, it is clear that while major media outlets have remained secure, the threat of cyberattacks continues to loom large in the digital world. Vigilance and robust security measures remain crucial in protecting sensitive information and maintaining public trust.
[1] Breach Level Index - 2025 Breach Reports [2] Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report [3] IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2025 [4] Ponemon Institute 2025 Cost of Data Breach Study [5] Cybersecurity Ventures 2025 Cybercrime Report
- Despite the robust security measures in place by major media outlets, cyberattacks on general-news platforms such as the Associated Press and CBS News have still been observed, highlighting the ongoing need for vigilance in the realm of politics and crime-and-justice reporting.
- In the midst of a peaceful cybersecurity landscape for numerous prominent organizations in technology, healthcare, and retail sectors, attacks specific to politics and news organizations, like the hacking of the Associated Press Twitter account, underscore the persistent threat in crime-and-justice and general-news domains.
