The official ABC News Facebook account was compromised on Tuesday afternoon, distributing an explicit image of pornographic actress Bonnie Blue, among other lewd material, before the broadcaster pulled the posts down.
The national broadcaster confirmed it was investigating after a “compromised staff account” resulted in unauthorised access to the page, which has 4.9 million followers and posts regular links to ABC reporting.
The hack occurred just after 1pm on Tuesday. The hacker changed the page’s cover photo to an image of Blue, real name Tia Billinger, a provocative OnlyFans and porn actress who was recently deported from Bali and has been criticised for making a point of having sex with 18-year-olds.
An ABC spokesperson said: “Access was quickly secured, the content removed, and an investigation is under way to review and strengthen our security controls.”
The hackers also posted an image of another porn actress, as well as an image of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese eating a hot dog.
7News’ YouTube account was hacked in 2024 and used to live-stream an AI-generated Elon Musk cryptocurrency scam.
Cybersecurity is a growing issue for corporations, with many attacks far more severe than the embarrassment suffered by the ABC. Criminal collectives have held many large Australian companies to ransom with the threat of leaking or destroying their data.
In October, Qantas, Adidas and Toyota were some of the companies held to ransom by hacker collective Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which had infiltrated a third-party software firm. Nine, the owner of this masthead, was hacked in 2021.
It is unclear exactly what strategy, if any, those who accessed the ABC News page had.
Corporate Facebook accounts are sometimes administered by the individual pages of authorised people, creating a potential security risk.
Blue has become a well-known figure in tabloid media for her provocative pornographic stunts. She was arrested in Bali last month, reportedly on suspicion of creating pornographic material. She ultimately paid a $20 fine for a traffic offence, was banned from returning to Indonesia for a decade, and later returned home to the UK.
The ABC shut down most of its accounts on rival social media platform X in 2023, declaring it was no longer a priority for the broadcaster. It retains more accounts on Facebook for individual shows such as Insiders. Those accounts were not affected.
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.