Hennepin County Libraries' Twitter Account Hacked

Hennepin County Library's Twitter account was apparently hacked on Wednesday, July 6 by an unknown party who proceeded to post a variety of "non-library" messages.

As a result, the library system has created a new Twitter account, but by about 1:15 p.m. July 7, they were able to use the old account again.

Ali Turner, division manager for communications and community engagement with the library system, said the account was broken into early in the day Wednesday. Library officials became aware the account had been compromised when they saw messages popping up online that weren't from Hennepin County Libraries.

 The hacker's tweets promoted various things, including trips and Internet jobs.

"We've taken the link down from our Website and are in the process of working with Twitter," Turner said Wednesday.

This is the first time the library system's Twitter account has been hacked, Turner said. Library officials have no information about who might have done the hacking or for what purpose.

On July 7, the library system debuted a new account at about 9 a.m. The first tweet said, "we cannot reset the password or change the email of the other account as the hackers did that first."

At about noon July 7, a tweet stated, "We cannot find another procedure beyond putting in a problem ticket. Please let us know if you are aware of another avenue."

Only a little over an hour later, the library shared the good news that they could again use the old account: "FANTASTIC news!! We're back @hclib, please re-follow. Story to follow. Thank you again for the support and assistance."

Hennepin County Libraries has one location in at 8001 Main Street.