Harvard campus news site hacked to troll Mark Zuckerberg

Harvard Crimson via the Wayback Machine Harvard Crimson via the Wayback Machine Photo: Harvard Crimson Via The Wayback Machine Photo: Harvard Crimson Via The Wayback Machine Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Harvard campus news site hacked to troll Mark Zuckerberg 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A mystery hacker has it out for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg returned to the Cambridge, Mass. school from which he famously dropped out, to deliver a commencement speech during the senior class' graduation ceremony. He was greeted in an unexpected way: with a flurry of absurd news headlines and doctored photos posted on the homepage of the Crimson, Harvard's school newspaper website.

The headlines were nonsensical, with many of them remixing Zuckerberg's name into ridiculous variations. Such stories (many with links that appear to have led nowhere) were given titles like, "Mark Zoinkerburg At It Again," "BREAKING: Mork Zinkletink Zonks All Over The Internet," and "Oops: Mink Pinklebink Accidentally 'Likes' Own Commencement Speech."

Some of the headlines reference Zuckerberg's doomed working relationship with his former schoolmates, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The Winklevoss twins, along with Divya Narendra, are commonly credited with coming up with the initial idea that led to the creation of Facebook. Such purported stories include "10 Websites that Merk Zuckerbook Stole From the Water Sports Boys," "Op-Ed: I Did Not Steal Fakebook F--- I Mean Facebook I Invented It In My Brain," and "Uh Oh: Fakebook A Big Grand Hoax Says Fast Kayaking Winklekrux Twins."

Several story teasers, which can be viewed here via the Wayback Machine, include Photoshopped versions of Zuckerberg's face, including one showing him without teeth.

Although the ordeal was initially suspected to be a graduation day joke by the paper's staff, the Crimson's president confirmed to Gizmodo that it was, in fact, not at all that.

"Earlier today, The Harvard Crimson's website was altered by an unauthorized user," president Derek Choi wrote to the tech site. "We are currently working to repair the breach. We regret any inconvenience to our users and look forward to the rest of Commencement."

A few hours ago, an unauthorized user altered The Crimson's website. We regret any inconvenience to our readers. — The Harvard Crimson (@thecrimson) May 25, 2017

The staff also clarified that it was indeed a hack on its Twitter.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg walked around campus Thursday, even visiting his old dorm room, before delivering the commencement address in the afternoon.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

