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Hacked Fast Company sends ‘obscene and racist’ alerts via Apple News

Apple News shut down Fast Company’s news channel after “an incredibly offensive alert” was sent to subscribers following a hack of the business publication on Tuesday evening.

Fast Company also took down its website “until we are certain the situation has been resolved,” according to a Tuesday night tweet.

As of Wednesday morning, the company’s site displayed a 404 error.

Miscreants breached Fast Company’s content management system then the publication’s Apple News channel sent “two obscene and racist push notifications” to subscribers, according to a series of Fast Company tweets: 

Other Fast Company subscribers posted screenshots of the offensive messages that were signed “Thrax was here.”

The attacker claimed the hack was “ridiculously easy,” according to a tweet from SocialProof Security CEO Rachel Tobac. “So far the attacker claims they were able to hack Fast Company due to a simple reused password that gave them access to most tools including admin pages, email, alerts, etc (but not customer data),” she wrote, along with a screenshot of the hacker’s note:

After the nasty news alerts were sent via Apple News, that company responded with a tweet of its own announcing that it had disabled the Fast Company channel:

As of Wednesday morning, the details about what happened in the Fast Company hack, and who the attacker is, remain limited. However, as this story continues to develop The Register will update this article, so check back for additional information. ®

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