Washington: The Backers of militant outfit Islamic State or ISIS had hacked the Twitter and YouTube accounts of United States military command.
They had hacked the Twitter and YouTube accounts for the US military command that oversees operations in the Middle East were hacked on Monday by people claiming to be sympathetic toward the Islamic State militant group being targeted in American bombing raids.
On the US Central Command Twitter feed, hackers posted, “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back, ISIS.”
They had used an acronym for the hardline Islamist group, which has taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq.
US officials acknowledged that the incident in which the accounts were “compromised” for about 30 minutes was embarrassing but played down the impact. The FBI said it was investigating.
The spokesperson of Pentagon Army Colonel Steve Warren said the Defense Department “views this as little more than a prank, or as vandalism.”
In a press briefing, Warren said, “It’s inconvenient, it’s an annoyance but in no way is any sensitive or classified information compromised.”
In official statement, Defense officials said, “Operational military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact.”
Notify that Islamic State forces have been targeted in air strikes by the United States and international partners.
After being hacked, the Central Command Twitter feed said, “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad.”
A list of generals and addresses associated with them had been published in Twitter account, titled “Army General Officer Public Roster (by rank) 2 January 2014.”
Subsequent posts read, “Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios” and “Pentagon Networks Hacked. Korean Scenarios.”
Central Command said it was notifying Pentagon and law enforcement authorities about the potential release of “personally identifiable information” and work to make sure the people “potentially affected” are notified quickly.
Josh Earnest, the spokesperson of White House in a press briefing said that the hacking was “something that we take seriously.”
He also said, “There’s a pretty significant difference between what is a large data breach and the hacking of a Twitter account.”
Notify that the hacking took place when US President Barack Obama going to announced new proposals aimed at bolstering American cyber security on Monday after high-profile hacking incidents including one against Sony Pictures Entertainment that U.S. officials blamed on North Korea.
Several current and former U.S. security and intelligence officials said until now they had never heard of the CyberCaliphate. Some of the officials expressed skepticism at the group’s skills and capabilities.
A former US intelligence official said, “Hacking a Twitter is about the equivalent of spray-painting a subway car.”
Bureau Report
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