Obviously, hacking can be a major problem. Gross amounts of money have been spent in an attempt to prevent hacking, and Internet security remains an important issue.
Still, it happens.
On Friday, Reuters was hacked and fake stories concerning Syria were posted. According to the a statement released by a parent firm. Thomas Reuters, "Reuters.com was a target of a hack on Friday. Our blogging platform was compromised and fabricated blog posts were falsely attributed to several Reuters journalists."'
The postings included a fabricated interview with the head of the Free Syrian Army, in which he said the rebel forces were retreating after skirmishes in the city of Aleppo.
In a news conference Friday, Syrian opposition fighters made clear they would not be withdrawing from Aleppo.
While the hackers were stopped, this can obviously create tremendous problems. In a world in which many rely on the web for news, stories like this can only heighten people's already inherent distrust of the medium.
For now, Reuters has taken down the blogging platform as it addresses the security issue.
U.S. & World
Via DVICE
