Hacking group OurMine has infiltrated more Twitter accounts, compromising the official accounts of Sony Music Entertainment and singer Bob Dylan.
The hacked Sony Music account tweeted in the early morning of Dec. 26 that Britney Spears has died, a hoax that caused a brief frenzy on the social media platform.
Britney Spears Is Not Dead
"Britney Spears is dead by accident!" the Sony Music account tweeted, along with the hashtag #RIPBritney. Dylan's account, which is also managed by Sony Music, then tweeted "Rest in peace @britneyspears," with both tweets using the crying emoji. The hacked account of Dylan also shared the tweet of Sony Music.
The tweets have since been taken down, but not before netizens went on a rampage to find out if the news of Spears' death was true.
The death of Spears turned out to be a hoax, with Sony Music claiming that its account was compromised. Representatives of Spears quickly told media outlets that the artist is alive and well, and Sony Music apologized to Spears and her fans for the confusion that was brought about the security breach.
"There have been a few Internet clowns over the years who have made similar claims about her death, but never from the official Sony Music Twitter account," said Adam Leber, the manager of Spears.
OurMine Claims Responsibility For Twitter Hack
Hacking group OurMine has taken responsibility for the tweets after they were deleted, with the group launching such actions as its means of marketing and promoting its security services.
OurMine has actually been on a Twitter hacking spree recently. Last week, the hacking group infiltrated the official Twitter account of streaming service Netflix to launch several tweets that mocked world security. OurMine was able to get into Netflix's Twitter account through the exploit of Netflix staff member's own account.
Almost immediately afterward, OurMine hacked into the official Marvel and NFL Twitter accounts, tweeting that the group is simply testing the protection of the accounts while offering its services to improve cybersecurity.
OurMine has also previously hacked into the Twitter accounts of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, actor Channing Tatum, and even the CEO of Twitter himself, Jack Dorsey.
The group, while displaying great ability in breaching the security of Twitter accounts, has not done any real damage, as the tweets sent out by the accounts that it hacks have not divulged any personal information and have not caused any other form of damage.
The emergence of OurMine is one of the year's top hacking stories, alongside the security breach against the Democratic National Committee and the historic hack against Yahoo.
