Recent hack and crash prove computers rule the world

On Tuesday, a hacked Twitter account caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 to temporarily plummet, resulting in several minutes’ worth of world-wide panic. A tweet posted by the Associated Press claimed that President Barack Obama had been injured in a series of explosions. It was quickly refuted by White House staff and, moments later, @AP posted a retraction and apology: “The @AP Twitter account has been suspended after it was hacked. The tweet about an attack on the White House was false.”

But it was too late. The damage had been done. Word spread and the market took a massive hit. Luckily for panic-stricken investors though, it rebounded as soon as the record was set straight.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into the root of the compromise. So far, the Syrian Electronic Army has stepped forward and claimed responsibility, but their claim remains unfounded. (Days before, Twitter had suspended the group’s account after they took credit for hacking three of CBS’s largest accounts: 48 Hours, CBS-Denver, and 60 Minutes. Suspicious activity..?)

The Associated Press has nearly 2 million followers on Twitter, but none of them were responsible for the recent stock market snafu – their computers were.

You read right. Computers caused the world to plunge into madness for a few short minutes. Automated online trading systems are programmed to scan the Internet for news updates via buzzwords, and then execute trades immediately, without reservation. Once these systems identified “Obama,” “explosions,” and “White House,” they started a fire-sale.

Concerned yet? Have we put too much trust in our computers?

21st Century terrorism has taken on a variety of faces. Suicide bombers driven by religious beliefs. Psychotics with private arsenals. But perhaps the ones who wield the most power in our digital age are cyber terrorists, like those responsible for the AP hack. They were able to incite panic on a global scale with only a few keystrokes. Authorities are scrambling to figure out when and where the next attack will take place. This time it was the stock market. Next time – the nuclear launch codes?

Now you have to be concerned...