Hackers Take Over Twitter Accounts of Fox-Affiliates

By Andrew Gauthier 

A group of hackers has gained access to a database of fox.com email accounts and last night took over the Twitter accounts of two Fox-affiliates: WFQX in Michigan’s Upper Peninsulas and KADN in Lafayette, LA.

Calling itself Lulz Security, the group posted defamatory tweets under the accounts of WFQX and KADN and, using its own Twitter account (@LulzSec), has today been teasing future attacks. “Lots of Facebook logins,” the group tweeted this morning.

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In addition to wreaking havoc on the Fox-affiliates’ Twitter feeds, Lulz Security has gained access to the LinkedIn accounts of at least 16 Fox Broadcasting employees.

A Fox Broadcasting spokesperson tells TVSpy that the company first learned of the security breach two weeks ago and has been working to minimize the damage. Here’s the full statement:

About two weeks ago, we learned that computer hackers illegally accessed fox.com and obtained  a database file that contained usernames and passwords used to access a Fox extranet site.  We took immediate steps to stop the illegal intrusion, have notified all users who were affected and are working with law enforcement.

WFQX took back control of its Twitter account today, tweeting an apology to its 290 followers this morning. KADN, though, has yet to delete the derogatory tweets, one of which refers to the station’s 574 followers as the N-word.

TVSpy spoke with a KADN staffer this afternoon who said that the station was waiting for the corporate office to take down the offending tweets.

As Gawker points out, Lulz Security appears to have also gained access to an email database of 250,000 potential “X Factor” contestants, prompting Fox to contact the pop music hopefuls last week and instruct them to delete all emails asking for personal information.

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