"This is not a joke, Ground Zero has just been attacked. We`re attempting to get reporters on the scene. #groundzeroattacked," read the first false message sent from the @nbcnews account.
The second message alleged an airliner had been hijacked and the plane had just hit Ground Zero -- the site of the deadly September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes in New York.
"Breaking News! Ground Zero has just been attacked. Flight 5736 has crashed into the site, suspected hijacking. more as the story develops," read a third false message.
Soon after a message appeared stating: "@NBCNews Hacked by The Script Kiddies @s_kiddies."
With Americans jittery ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks and a amid a new terror threat, NBC moved swiftly to denounce the hacking.
"The NBC News twitter account was hacked late this afternoon and as a result, false reports of a plane attack on ground zero were sent to @NBCNews followers," NBC News said in a statement.
"We are working with Twitter to correct the situation and sincerely apologize for the scare that could have been caused by such a reckless and irresponsible act."
The Script Kiddies is reportedly a group that splintered from Anonymous, the loose network of "hacktivists" behind recent cyber attacks on Visa.com, Mastercard.com and other websites.
The same group claimed to have hacked the @foxnewspolitics Twitter account in July, posting a false report that President Barack Obama had been murdered.
(U.C003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
