Hacked Fast Company sends 'obscene and racist' alerts via Apple News

Someone going by 'Thrax' claims responsibility for 'incredibly easy' breach

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: 

Fast Company's Apple News account was hacked on Tuesday evening. Two obscene and racist push notifications were sent about a minute apart.The messages are vile and not in line with the content and ethos of Fast Company. (continued below)

— Fast Company (@FastCompany) September 28, 2022

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:

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). pic.twitter.com/QaeNLRd5pg

— Rachel Tobac (@RachelTobac) September 28, 2022

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:

An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.

— Apple News (@AppleNews) September 28, 2022

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. ®