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NFL Twitter Account Is the Latest Big Name Victim of Hackers

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
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By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
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June 7, 2016, 2:10 PM ET
False tweet on NFL account
Screenshot of hacked NFL tweet, since deleted.Aaron Pressman

Football fans who follow the NFL’s Twitter account got a jolt on Tuesday afternoon thanks to an unknown hacker.

“We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57. #RIP,” read the unauthorized—and untrue—message that appeared on the official NFL Twitter account, which is followed by more than 19 million people.

The tweet was quickly pulled down though the hacker posted several more retorts before being locked out. The NFL didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

False tweet on NFL account

The league responded to CNBC. “We have engaged law enforcement to look into the matter,” CNBC reported that the NFL said. “We are reviewing and strengthening our cyber-security measures.”

The embarrassment is just the latest Twitter (TWTR) hack of a highly followed account. Such break-ins typically result from a hacker simply guessing the password to an account, not any weakness in Twitter’s security systems.

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Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s twitter and Pinterest accounts were hacked recently because the Harvard drop out had reused the same password on those sites and LinkedIn (LNKD), itself the subject of a hacker attack that resulted in 100 million stolen user names and passwords.

Also hit recently were Twitter accounts of pop star Katy Perry and celebrity Kylie Jenner. Other noted Twitter hacks have included 2013 attacks on Jeep (FCAU) and Burger King (BKW) that included racially offensive posts.

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By Aaron Pressman
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