A threat to the news media following the Sony hack may have been a hoax from a tweeter who was just “messing around,” ABC News reports.
The FBI and Homeland Security believed the threat was credible enough to include it in a join intelligence bulletin last week to law enforcement agencies.
The bulletin alleges the suspected Sony hackers, known as the Guardians of Peace, also threatened the news media for covering the hack.
But the FBI has backed off after a man from Tennessee said on Twitter that the threat was “fake” and that he was “just messing around.”
The FBI defended its decision to issue a bulletin about the threat that wasn’t corroborated.
“As part of our commitment to public safety, the FBI routinely shares information with the private sector and law enforcement community,” an FBI spokesman said in a statement. “We take all threats seriously and will continue to disseminate relevant information observed during the course of our investigations, in order to help protect the public against any potential threats.”
