Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell is the latest public figure to lose control of their social media account.
Earlier this morning, Powell’s Facebook page was commandeered by an unknown hacker, who began to fill the page with anti-George W. Bush posts.
“BUSH IS WALKING IN HIS ROOM WITH A KUKLUXKLAN HAT ON HIS TARDED HEAD,” read one post.
“YOU ARE SUCH ASS HOLE COLIN YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR THE CRIMES YOU AN ALL BUSH AND ROCKFELLES AND OTHERS!” read another.
The hacker also posted Bush family photos that leaked last month to a new photo album.
Users tried to alert Powell that his account had been compromised, and eventually the page went down – presumably to fix the intrusion.
Once he regained control of the account, General Powell posted this message to his 81,000+ followers:
Dear Friends, as most of you realize, my fb page has obviously been hacked. I’m sorry you have to see all the stupid, obscene posts that are popping up. Please ignore as we are working with fb to take care of this problem. I appreciate your patience.
Reminder: Everyone has to be vigilant when it comes to password security, but if you’re a public figure you have to be extra cautious.
UPDATE: Powell posted another status, this time complimenting Facebook for their help with the situation:
Dear Friends, I’m happy to report that the hacking problem has been fixed. We have been working with fb this morning and they took immediate action to remedy the situation.