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Hackers compromised the NBC News Twitter account today and sent several fake

tweets from the account about an attack on Ground Zero reminiscent of the attacks

of September 11, 2001.

"Breaking News! Ground Zero has just been attacked. Flight 5736 has crashed into

the site, suspected hijacking. More as the story develops," was the first tweet this afternoon.

It was followed by two others, including one that started "This is not a joke."

The fourth tweet said "NBCNEWS hacked by The Script Kiddies."

An e-mailed NBC News statement said: "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. 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."

A search for the NBC News Twitter profile shortly thereafter displayed the message

"This user does not exist."

It's unclear who the Script Kiddies are. The profile for the Script Kiddies--a term

used to describe novice hackers--also appeared to have been removed from Twitter.


The hacking comes after a similar problem with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's

Twitter account, which was used to tweet blatant spam yesterday. Wozniak told CNET

that he wasn't aware of his account being hacked but that he would change his password.

"I really don't use my Twitter account," he wrote in an e-mail. "I should. It's a good thing.

But it's down on my priority list and I'm too short of time."

Twitter spokeswoman Lynn Fox, contacted in regards to the Wozniak incident,

said the company does not comment on individual accounts.