YourAnonNews (YAN), a Tumblr blog and Twitter account that supports the hacktivist movement Anonymous and posts regular tweets about breaking news stories, appears to have been hacked today by a group known as the Rustle League.
Update: Another Twitter account held by Anonymous has since tweeted to say that the updates issued by YourAnonNews were “a practical joke.” It claims the PLF was, however, hacked as previously reported.
Roughly an hour ago (2:30am PT/5:30am ET), the first tweet was published from the @YourAnonNews account – which has 1,103,659 followers at the time of writing – with a hashtag indicating that the Rustle League had gained control.
27 days ago, Commander X was locked out of #YAN can anyone guess why? ;-) #RustleLeague #40oz
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) May 31, 2013
More than two dozen tweets have since been issued from the account, containing a wide range of racial and potentially offensive language.
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The main Anonymous Twitter account recognised the hack before sharing a report by Softpedia. It’s unclear whether the central Anonymous group is assisting YourAnonNews to restore order at this time. Anonymous has also tweeted, however, to say that it has notified both Reuters and the BBC about the takeover.
Leaders of Anonymous movement @youranonnews & @plf2012 hacked! Informing @rt_com and @bbcbreaking right now.
— Anonymous Operations (@Anon_Central) May 31, 2013
A seperate Twitter account held by the People’s Liberation Front, an Anonymous-allied hacktivist group, has also been hacked by the Rustle League today. The earliest tweet with the #RustleLeague hash-tag was also sent out roughly an hour ago, suggesting that the takeover was both pre-planned and simultaneous.
Hacked by #RustleLeague @5hm00p @dantalion_ @meepkittyfuck @_fl0ss @n1gg3rchr1st_ @ohgeisty #40oz
— Rustle League (@PLF2012) May 31, 2013
It’s also likely that the same individual, or group of individuals have taken over both accounts.
Earlier this year, another Twitter account owned by the central Anonymous group was hacked by the Rustle League. Anonymous eventually regained control.
At the time of writing, both the @YourAnonNews and @PLF2012 accounts are still being managed by members of the Rustle League group.
Related: Anonymous raises $54,798 through Indiegogo to kick-start its dedicated news site for Your Anon News
Image Credit: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images
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