CBS Twitter Accounts Suspended After Series Of Bogus Tweets From Hackers

Series of bogus tweets targeting the United States and President Barack Obama were posted on two CBS News program accounts Saturday, resulting in temporary suspension of the accounts until the issue was resolved, reports BBC News.

CBS News programs "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" Twitter accounts were attacked by hackers who posted fake messages accusing CIA of aiding the Al-Qaeda terrorist group with ammunition. CBS has, however, removed many tweets that falsely accused the United States organizations of being involved in terrorist acts, but the accounts remain suspended while CBS is working with Twitter to resolve the issue. CBS News director, Tim Weiland, also confirmed that its Denver affiliate had been compromised.

"We have experienced problems on Twitter accounts of #60Minutes & @48Hours; We apologize for the inconvenience; Twitter is resolving issues," read a tweet from @CBSNews.

In another tweet from @60Minutes, it notified users that "Twitter account was compromised" earlier Saturday and "are working with Twitter to resolve."

Series of tweets posted on the @60Minutes account include:

"The US government is hiding the real culprit of the Boston bombing"

"The US government is sponsoring a coup in Venezuela and a terrorist war in Syria"

"Your duty is to protect your nation from the parasites that have taken your government"

"Obama wants to destroy the Syrian and American people. We must stop this beast"

Other tweets posted on @48Hours account claimed President Obama's arrest: "General Dempsey calls for #Obama's arrest under new anti-terror laws #48hours."

Messages posted on @CBSDenver reported United States' involvement in terrorist acts in Syria.

One tweet read, "New Evidence of CIA Arming Al Qaeda Terrorists in #Syria."

Another one posted on @CBSDenver: "WMDs Provided by NATO to Al-Qaeda for a False Flag Operation in #Syria."

According to other tweets, the involvement of Syrian Electronic Army was hinted. "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here via @SyrianCyberArmy," it read.

The Syrian Electronic Army is a group of pro-hackers in the Syrian government. It has a history of hacking several news media organizations accounts in the past. Recently in March, the Syrian Electronic Army had hijacked several BBC Twitter accounts and posted fake messages. Also last year, Reuters' website was attacked by the hackers and they posted fake stories involving the Middle East.