Senator's Twitter account hacked

A US senator's Twitter account was hacked Monday and a series of messages sent out to his more than 33,500 followers.

US Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, had regained control of his @ChuckGrassley account by Monday afternoon and the interloper's messages had been deleted.

Earlier in the day, the hacker posted a string of messages including one critical of the senator's position on controversial legislation in the Senate intended to crack down on Internet piracy of music and movies.

"Dear Iowans, vote against ACTA, SOPA, and PIPA, because this man, Chuck Grassley, wants YOUR internet censored," one of the messages said.

Grassley was a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate but he backed off his support for the bill along with a number of other US legislators last week in the face an online protest led by Google and Wikipedia.

Grassley's office said his staff noticed the compromise of his Twitter account "a few minutes after the first false Tweet was posted."

"Staff immediately called Twitter to obtain access to the account so the password could be changed," his office said in a statement. "The password has been changed, and Senator Grassley controls the account again."

Grassley's office said the hacking incident was reported to the Senate Sergeant at Arms.

(c) 2012 AFP