“Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State took control of the social media accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command on Monday, posting threatening messages and propaganda videos, along with some military documents,” Dan Lamothe reports for The Washington Post. “”
“The command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were eventually taken offline, but not before a string of tweets and the release of military documents, some of which listed contact information for senior military personnel,” Lamothe reports. “A Centcom spokesman confirmed their accounts were “compromised,” and said later that the accounts have been taken offline while the incident is investigated more. ‘CENTCOM’s operation military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command,’ a military statement said. ‘CENTCOM will restore service to its Twitter and YouTube accounts as quickly as possible. We are viewing this purely as a case of cybervandalism.'”
“Virtually all of the documents posted appear to already have been publicly available online, but the incident is nevertheless embarrassing to the U.S. military. Centcom oversees the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and frequently posts videos of airstrikes on the same accounts attacked Monday,” Lamothe reports. “The first rogue tweet Monday was posted about 12:30 p.m. and the account was not suspended for about another 40 minutes. The background and profile photo of the Twitter account were both changed to show an apparent militant and the phrases “’CyberCaliphate’ and ‘i love you isis,’ using one of the acronyms for the militant group. ‘AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK,’ one tweet said.”
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