At times, after reading such books as “Spetsnaz. The Story Behind the Soviet SAS“, it makes you wonder if someone hasn’t taken an idea out of the playbook — just replace cassettes with modern technology.
A hacked Associated Press Twitter account disseminated a bogus breaking news tweet last Tuesday about two explosions at the White House that injured the U.S. president. The nature and content of the tweet not only instilled panic in thousands of the nearly 2 million followers of Associated Press’s @AP Twitter account, it also triggered definite alarm in the financial markets, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to tumble 143 points in just two minutes.
People have become heavily reliant on technology, even if that technology disseminates unconfirmed information.
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While the Dow Jones Industrial Average regained all its losses within seven minutes of the attack after Associated Press and White House confirmations of the falsity of the tweet, some traders with prearranged sell orders lost money during that period.
Market chaos or drops following cyberattacks or mere computer glitches are not new. In May 2010, a glitch-related “flash crash” destroyed nearly a trillion dollars from share prices when the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points. These events show how dependent our volatile economy is on computers, and how easily it is influenced by news, especially bad news. They show how such technology could be manipulated as an economic or political weapon.
Full article: @AP Hijack Exposes Precarious Economy (The Trumpet)
Global Geopolitics 