Hacked Fox News falsely reports U.S. President Obama Assassinated

Early this morning the hacked Twitter account of Fox News released a series of false tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated.

On the day the American populace celebrate their country's independence, a group of as yet unidentified hackers broke into Fox News' Twitter account, subsequently posting a slew of false tweets reporting that President Obama had been assassinated.

The tweets reported that the president had been shot twice at a restaurant in Indiana, they went on to wish Obama's successor Joe Biden good luck.

The first tweet, which appeared at around 2am PDT read, "@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead"

Followed by, "@BarackObama has just passed. Nearly 45 minutes ago, he was shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck; shooter unknown. Bled out"

A slew of other tweets followed ending with, "We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there's light at the end of tunnel"

No group has yet come forward claiming responsibility for the hack. The hacker collective LulzSec, which would have been the most likely suspect announced that it would be disbanding late last month.

The group would have been a likely suspect due to its tendency to target sites and organisations "just for Lulz", but since its involvement in the now Anonymous led Operation Anti-Security gained it too much unwanted attention from the world's authorities the group disbanded.

Its 4Chan-born hacktivist sibling Anonymous has also been cited by analysts as a possible culprit. The hacking of a twitter account and posting of false information would mark a severe change in M.O from Anonymous usual style. The group usually operated by stealing real data from its victims, later posting it online as proof of its attack.

The tweets occurred just after a tweet went up on Fox's twitter feed claiming it had managed to regain control of its account, "Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th".

The fact the false tweets are still being displayed on the site and were posted after the tweet claiming it had re-established control has led some to believe that the hackers may still have access to the account.

Fox is yet to officially comment of the hack or status of the feed.

UPDATE: The hacking collective Script Kiddies has since claimed responsibility for the attack.